A Different Story
by HaiseKanekiV2
Summary: Daniel Allen had wanted nothing else but to reunite with his brother, but when they are both struck by lightning fused with dark matter, both of their lives intertwine in ways that they never thought possible. How would Central City react to having two vigilantes running around; one with super speed, and the other capable of crushing the world in the palm of his hands? OC
1. Lightning Strikes

**Disclaimers: I do not own any DC Character. I only own my own OC's, which might appear through the story.**

 **I also do not own any Marvel Characters, as one will be appearing later in the story.**

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Story**

 **Chapter 1: Origin**

" ** _Lightning is the shorthand of a storm, and tells of chaos."_** **– Eric Mackay**

 **2005**

The sound of a thousand footsteps bellowed through the house. A thunderous roar exploded around the home, starting outside but swiftly made its way inside. The very foundations of the house shook violently, which was then followed by a loud shriek of panic.

"Barry!"

The scream was distinctive and obnoxious, but it proved its purpose. Moments later, Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen, better known as just Barry, came storming into his brother's room with wide brown eyes and a worried expression plastered onto his face.

As soon as Barry entered into the room, he felt a small pair of arms wrap around his waist, tightening considerably as they did so. Barry glanced down at his younger brother, swiftly throwing his arms around him also, determined to keep him safe.

The entire neighborhood seemed to calm down suddenly, and the footsteps vanished. The two brothers stayed next to each other, making sure to keep extra quite...

"B-Barry..." The younger blonde haired boy mumbled out, catching Barry's attention. The brown haired teen quickly scanned the room for any dangers, but couldn't find anything initially.

"Daniel?" Barry replied in concern, bringing his full attention back to the boy gripping onto his abdomen tightly. It took him a moment to adjust to the darkness, but he finally noticed that Daniel had an outstretched finger pointed at one of the corners of his room...

"Barry... It's floating." Daniel said slowly, his voice quivering considerably as he did. When Barry looked over to the corner, he saw that all of the water in the fish tank had begun to levitate into the air above the tank, which was then followed by the sound of a helicopters propellers swirling.

Unexpectedly, the house exploded into noise once again, the floorboards shaking extremely. Daniel increased the power of the grip on Barry's abdomen, both of his eyes tearing up as he did so.

"W-What's happening?" Daniel asked his older brother in fear, an engraved darkness kernelling in his stomach. It made him feel nauseous. Something bad was going to happen tonight...

"I...I..."

The eleven-year-old didn't know what to say. After all, Barry didn't know what was going on either. The past five minutes appeared as a blur in his mind, and he couldn't remember much apart from the ground shaking around him, and the sudden urgency that he felt to find his brother.

" _HELP!"_

It didn't take either of them much time to spring out of the room. Barry was leading, and he was holding onto Daniel's hand tightly. The scream that they had heard, defiantly came from Nora Allen, their mother. Barry's heart was racing considerably, and he could feel the sweat running down his face.

"Mommy!" Daniel called out the moment that they reached the entrance to the living room. Barry quickly covered his own eyes with his free arm, the onslaught of red and yellow colors easily became too much for him. With the hand that he was using to hold Daniel's hand, Barry pushed his younger brother behind his back, where he latched onto Barry's leg.

" _R...N...RRY! Henry!"_

Barry saw a familiar face burst out of the closest room, quickly moving to jump in front of the two boys. Barry's eyes widened in relief when he saw his father coming to their rescue, and he managed to get a glimpse into the tornado of red and yellow lightning.

Nora Allen was on her knees in the middle of the tornado. As a waterfall of tears poured down her face, Nora Allen reached forward with her right hand outstretched towards her family. The pure distraught on her face was obvious, and it was mirrored on her son's faces.

"MOM!" Barry shouted for her, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of swirling and footsteps... However, he didn't stop trying, and repeatedly they all screamed for her, to no avail.

" _R... U...N...!"_

Nora Allen's voice was still drowned out, but Henry Allen Senior was sure that he could make out the words... And if those words were correct, then Henry knew what he had to do.

"Barry! Daniel! Run!" The father of the two bellowed through the noise, turning his attention to his children. The terror was obvious on his face, and that only made Barry and Daniel quiver uncontrollably. It took a few moments, but the older of the two siblings finally managed to snap out of his stupor, both of his arms quickly moving to wrap around his brother's shoulders.

"We need to go!" Barry ordered his younger brother, who was trembling uncontrollably. The young boy was staring directly into the bustling tornado of red and yellow, his entire body frozen in fear. He wanted to save his mother, and he would do anything in his power to do it.

"No! No! We need to save her!" Daniel screamed loudly, visibly over exerting himself to carry the sound around the room. The young boy had been sure that his older brother would be onboard with his motives, but when Barry took a hold of his hand tightly and began to bolt towards the door, he knew otherwise.

"NO! Stop! Barry, _let me go!_ " Daniel began to scream and thrash violently as he was forcefully dragged towards the exit. Why didn't Barry and Dad save her?! Why couldn't they stop this from happening? Several exploding emotions were visible on his face; anger and frustration being the two leading parties.

Even after they reached the exit door, Daniel didn't stop screaming and squirming. Barry still hadn't let him go, and the two tornadoes of light were becoming ever closer to Nora Allen. In a last ditch effort, Daniel quickly formulated a risky plan to try and save his mom.

He was going to bite Barry's hand, so that he could free himself. But would that help? If he bit Barry's hand, what would he do once he was free? Run into the lightning storm and try and save his mother? The more Daniel thought about it, the bigger the migraine forming in his head became.

So he did what first came to his mind.

Barry reached for the door handle drastically with his free hand, only to feel his entire body jerk as incredible pain raced through his body. "OUCH!" Barry screamed out in pain, swiftly yanking his welting hand away from his younger brother's ruthless mouth.

By the time Barry turned to look at Daniel, his brother was already half way back towards the lightning tornado, each of his scrawny legs carrying him as fast as his tiny body could muster. Barry could only feel his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach, and his normally creamy skin instantaneously became pale.

"Daniel!"

The blonde haired boy didn't seem to hear his chocolate haired brother's desperate attempts to call him back, and if he did, Daniel was completely ignoring it. His body was already in motion and even if he wanted to turn around, he wouldn't. Determination pumped through his veins as he got closer to the flashing lights; his mother's safety being the only thing on his mind.

That was until his entire momentum was halted by a very stiff object appearing in front of him. It wasn't instantaneous or even extremely fast, but it was so sudden that Daniel didn't have any other choice but to crash and fall back onto his rear…

"Ow…." The five-year-old moaned, lifting a weak right hand to nurse his spinning head. What had he just run into? It was too big to be Barry, so that means… Daniel forced himself to look up at the looming figure above, both of his eyes expanding greatly when he saw the scene in front of him.

"DAD!" Barry's voice could be heard bellowing from the door, and the sound of sobbing could also be heard coming from his direction. Daniel was frozen solid to the ground; helplessly watching as scarlet liquid slowly dripped down the hole formed by a silver blade protruding from his father's back…

The father of the two kids crumpled to the ground, his dead corpse spraying blood all over Daniel; soaking him in the thick crimson liquid. Henry's body was facing away from Daniel, fortunately for the kid, and Daniel began to hyperventilate violently.

His heart beat began to increase enormously, blood rushing around his body extremely quickly. His cheeks were flushed- No, his entire creamy body was now tomato red, intermingled with blotches of crimson blood from his father. It was at that moment that he realized that he was all alone in the room…

Well, almost all alone. Barry was long gone, and he could see his mother's crumpled body just a few feet away. In front of Daniel was a tall figure wearing a yellow skin tight body suit, staring down at him while holding onto a bloody knife.

The smirk on the masked man's vibrating face was something forever etched into Daniel's subconscious. Both of the speed demon's eyes were scarlet red, as if bright fire from hell was shining through each eye socket. The five-year-old could only quiver as his eyes scanned the body of the vibrating man, and his eyes became transfixed on the lightning bolt symbol on the man's chest.

A reversed lightning bolt…

Suddenly, an extraordinary gust of wind seemed to rip through the room, and Daniel found himself about 20 blocks away from where he was moments ago, no longer in the deathly scene that he was forced to witness… Just a few moments of recalling the situation in his head only caused the small kid more distraught, until he could feel the fear and confusion overtaking him; causing him to crawl up into a small human ball at the side of the street.

Why was he so weak? Why couldn't he protect the people that he loved? Where was Barry? That was the last thoughts that went through Daniel Allen's head, before his vision went out and he blacked out.

 **2015 - The Present**

 _Ring! Ring! Rin-_

It hadn't even taken the user more than a second to determine if the call was worth taking. After all, it was around the 4th time in the last _hour_ that the boy's adoptive father had called him to try and check up on him. He wasn't a kid anymore, and he definitely didn't need to be monitored as closely as _this._

However, it was expected. You do automatically become a target to many bizarre people when you are the son of award winning scientist, Harrison Wells, and the only heir to the prosperous, Science capital of Central City, S.T.A.R Labs.

" _Daniel 'Malcolm' Allen, this is highly irresponsible of you..."_ A rather irritated voice spoke through the voice message system on Daniel's phone, causing the 15-year-old to sigh loudly. He knew automatically from the voice that it was Harrison Well's on the other end trying to get through. Plus, his father was the only one that ever used his full name, middle name included, to address him when he was angry.

" _You are supposed to be at my side during the grand opening of th-"_

"Particle Accelerator..." Daniel finished for the voice message, despite knowing that Dr. Well's couldn't hear him on the other end. He'd heard his adoptive father tell him the plan millions of times now. During the unveiling of Harrison Well's latest project, the Particle Accelerator, Daniel was to be his father's right hand man throughout the entire night, and before the grand opening, Daniel was scheduled to give a speech about the machine and how it was supposed to benefit the city…

Most science nerds would be head-over-heels to have the 'privilege' of giving a speech about the expensive piece of junk; However, Daniel _definitely_ wasn't one of those nerds. Even if he wanted to change his mind now, the young Allen didn't know a single fact about the Particle Accelerator, or what it was made for, which would ultimately bring embarrass to himself in front of the whole of Central City.

Yeah… No.

Ultimately, that was only _one_ reason why he wasn't currently being groomed to perfection for the big night. Nor was it the main reason. Instead, the cerulean eyed teenager had all of his attention locked onto a certain building in the heart of Central City.

The Central City Police Department.

His entire body seemed to physically jolt as unkempt emotions riled through him, encouraging him to begin to walk towards the entrance of the building. Why was he so exhilarated all of a sudden? Well, he was about to confront someone that he hadn't spoken to in year. Well, in person, that is. Sparsely would the two brothers hear from each other.

Yes, Daniel was looking for his long lost older brother, Barry Allen.

Well, not so lost. Even when separated into different households 10 years ago, both brothers knew that the other was still in Central City. For unknown reasons to Daniel, the connection they had seemed to dissipate very quickly after _that_ night, and even though they both had each other's contact details throughout the years, they barely ever did more than just hold it in their phones. Even when Daniel did attempt to message Barry, he never seemed to get a response.

Dr. Wells had told Daniel for the first couple of year that Barry probably found it difficult to contact him because of the connection that they shared to their deceased parents. However, Daniel didn't understand that reasoning at all. Wouldn't that bring them closer together? Surely he was the only person that shared the same feelings as Barry about that night, right?

Daniel also theorized about the possibility that Barry wanted to forget the past to spare himself from the memories. Perhaps his older brother was trying to move on from the terrors of that night by making an entirely new family. In that case, seeing Daniel, the only connection that Barry had with his past, could possibly cause a negative reaction.

However, Daniel was ready to take the risk. It had taken quite bit of planning to slip through Harry's protective watch, especially on his special day, but in the end it would pay off.

As he took a deep breath, Daniel ran a cool hand through his arguably short blonde hair, spiking the lighter blonde away from his dark roots. The teenager would then take a few steps towards the entrance and he placed his hand on the door, only to have the door open unexpectedly.

Two policemen came rushing out, one of which Daniel recognized almost immediately. Joe West, Daniel's dead father's ex-partner and the man that adopted Barry out of respect to his fallen partner. Too bad that respect didn't count for both of Henry Allen's children…

The largely built African American man brushed past Daniel in a hurry, turning momentarily to apologize for the impoliteness. Both of their eyes linked for a moment, cerulean blue and the darkest brown intermingling in an intense clash of colors.

"No problem." Daniel replied to the apology smoothly, before choosing to abandon making a conversation for now. It didn't take him more than a moment to turn away from Joe West and enter the Police station. It wasn't like he hated the man for only adopting Barry, but… certain feelings began bubbling up inside of Daniel the moment their eyes clashed, and it was the kind of feeling that Daniel usually got before he did something that he'd regret later.

The A/C inside of the building was what snapped Daniel out of his daze. The young Allen looked around briefly until he spotted the directions sign just a few feet away from him. It had a short list of all of the departments in this specific department, and how to get to them. It didn't take him very long to find the department where his brother worked, seeing as Barry appeared to be the lead Crime Scene Investigator at the department.

Seeing as the department was on the 3rd floor, Daniel swiftly located the nearest elevator and took it up to the second floor. Interestingly, the elevator didn't seem to go up to the 3rd floor, which probably meant that Daniel would have to get out on the 2nd floor and figure out how to advance upwards.

Fortunately, Daniel was in the elevator alone, because his constant fidgeting would have definitely caused some suspicion from anyone watching. He was obviously nervous. Bringing his right hand up to his forehead, he wiped a bead of sweat away from his forehead, while his left hand was folding up the bottom corner of his plain black dress shirt.

"Hey Bro, it'- No. I can't start like that. Urmm…" Daniel took a breath; his mind beginning to try and figure out how to introduce himself to Barry. "Hey Barry, you probably won't recognize me but I'm your little brother." Daniel shook his head once again and he went through several more possibilities before the elevator opened on the 2nd floor.

Daniel stepped out of the elevator and just _stood_ there in the large lobby for a few moments. His eyes scanned around and looked for another way to get up to the 3rd floor, eventually finding a large staircase on the other end of the room. Daniel immediately began to head to the staircase, keeping a steady stride as he went.

Unknowing to Daniel, only badged cops and Barry himself were allowed to proceed up the stairs to Barry's CSI room, so his semi-confident stride towards the staircase was causing quite a few eyes to lock onto him. That, plus the fact that the majority of the television in the police station were playing the unveiling of the Particle Accelerator, where the missing Daniel Allen, the 'successor of S.T.A.R Labs', was scheduled to perform his speech.

Instead of interrupting the teen in his path, most of the people that noticed Daniel heading to the stairs began to talk among themselves. If Daniel hadn't been so caught up in trying to control his nervousness, he would have noticed dozens of eyes curiously watching him.

* * *

"Great job investigating that crime scene this morning. Joe and his partner are heading out to apprehend the robbers as we speak." Captain Singh reported casually, sitting back in his chair and relaxing. Out of all the investigators he's ever met, Barry Allen must have been one of the best, but also the humblest.

Barry awkwardly stood a few feet away from Captain Singh's desk, holding out a red folder that contained all of the evidence from the bank robbery earlier that day. "Thank you, but without all of your guy's help, my evidence would be useless…" Barry trailed off, followed by a grateful smile.

Captain Singh looked up at Barry for a few moments, before sighing deeply and taking the folder from his grasp. "You need to give yourself more credit, Mr. Allen. You're our best, and only, Crime Scene Investigator. Without you, we would still be miles behind on the case." Captain Singh pointed out casually, causing Barry's mouth to curve into a small smile.

Being praised by his new boss was one of the things that Barry had wished for prior to getting this job. Much to his relief, every case that he had worked on for the past 4 months had succeeded, and he was being congratulated almost every week since he landed the job.

"Thank you, Captain Singh." Barry said politely, retracting his hand and folding his arms. Both of his chocolate brown eyes scanned the room and landed on the flat screen television in the corner. Tonight was the unveiling of the Particle Accelerator and subconsciously Barry began to tap his feet on the floor impatiently, almost begging to be dismissed.

"You are dismissed."

Barry was out of the room almost immediately, scurrying through his fellow co-workers so that he could head up to his work room. If his memory served him correctly, his younger brother was scheduled to give a speech, which probably was starting now, and he _really_ didn't want to miss it.

Unfortunately, as Barry scurried towards the staircase leading up to his work space, he kept taking glances at the televisions around the room and he saw the latest update. From what he could piece together, the brown haired man concluded that Daniel didn't show up for his speech, the reason which was unknown.

"But why is he here?"

"Shouldn't that kid be _there_?"

"Huh? Why is the heir of S.T.A.R Labs at the police department?"

That last one caught Barry's attention, and he swiftly turned his attention towards the owner of the voice. Was his brother here? Barry stood there for a few moments, before he managed to clear his head.

"You mean at _this_ police department?" Barry asked, catching the attention of the badged man. Instead of answering the CSI Investigator verbally, the man pointed behind Barry and towards the direction where Barry was originally heading.

"Thanks man."

Barry turned around and began to head towards the direction where that man had pointed; until he had broken through the small crowd of busy cops rushing around. Finally, Barry could get a clear look at the figure walking towards the staircase leading to his office.

Just looking from the back, Barry could barely recognize the teenager. Was that his brother? The only thing that Barry could make out was short blonde hair at the back, which seemed to be well styled, along with a black dress shirt. Barry quickened his pace and soon made it towards the teenager.

"Danny?"

Daniel almost tripped over his own legs when he heard Barry's voice, and he came to a complete stop. He hadn't heard that nickname in _years_ , and more importantly, he hadn't heard that _voice_ in years. The young Allen turned his head slowly until his cerulean blue eyes met with Barry's chocolate brown, both filled with shock, confusion and joy.

"Barry…" Daniel's voice came out weakly, as if the shock and realization had finally hit him. The man standing in front of him was Barry Allen, his older brother. Although Barry looked extremely different from when he was 11 years old, Daniel could still see the key features that Barry still retained, and probably always will. Deep brown eyes, matching brown hair, and an incredibly goofy grin.

"Danny!" Barry exclaimed again, this time pumped full of enthusiasm and excitement. Barry's face had twisted into one of the happiest faces that Daniel had ever seen, with Barry's smile threatening to split his face in half. A moment later, Barry had engulfed Daniel in an enormous hug that left the younger boy stunned.

After a few seconds of an incredibly one sided hug, Barry let go of his brother and looked up into Daniel's face with a slightly confused and awkward smile. "You're not happy to see me?" Barry asked his brother, his tone of voice clearly expressing the fact that he was confused as to why Daniel wasn't responding much.

"No-No! It's not that… I'm just a bit…" Daniel took a few moments to blink and clear his head. "Overwhelmed. That's all." Daniel told Barry, who accepted the excuse within the blink of an eye. Daniel was truly meant to say confused, because that was really why his brain seemed to shut down a few moments ago

Daniel thought that when he met his brother, it would all make sense to him. The reason why Barry didn't text or call him. The reason why Barry seemingly dropped every sort of connection with him. But right now, none of it made sense.

It seemed that Barry was actually _glad_ to see Daniel, and that single fact threw everything out of the window. Because Barry was happy, dare say overjoyed, that meant that he held no resentment to Daniel's sudden appearance; which in turn meant that Daniel's theory about Barry wanting to completely sever all connections to his past was now garbage.

But that left so much unanswered questions that _needed_ answering.

While Daniel had been daydreaming about his mass-confusion, they had both moved up into Barry's very spacious pseudo-office, and were now opposite each other at the center. Daniel broke out of his trance just as Barry had finished opening a large window above them.

"It's great to finally see you." Daniel managed to speak out, a genuine smile crossing his face as he did. It wasn't a lie. All of the days that Daniel stayed up all night planning a way to get to _this_ point had finally paid off, and even if he wouldn't admit it to himself prior to this moment, he didn't think that the plan was going to work.

"It's amazing to finally see you again too!" Barry replied enthusiastically, a large grin still etched onto his face. "I mean; it's been _years_ since we've last seen each other! You're all grown up now!" Barry rambled out quickly; memories of a much younger boy, with extremely light blonde hair and sky blue eyes, rushing back to him. "You just turned-"

"15." Daniel finished for his brother, proudly smiling back at him. "It was only a few weeks ago, actually. M-"

"May the 22nd." Barry finished for Daniel, completely shocking the blonde teenager once again. Daniel apparently stayed silent for a few more seconds, because Barry spoke up once more. "Did you think that I could forget my own little brother's birthday?" Barry asked Daniel, the question actually lingering in the air for a few moments. Barry's tone seemed to change, a more confused and uncertain vibe radiating from it.

"Well… Yeah, kind of." Daniel replied, his own voice also carrying an uncertain ring to it. Barry raised his eyebrows considerably when Daniel replied, a genuine confusion setting upon him. After a few more seconds of silence, Daniel realized that Barry was inviting him to explain his reasoning, and so he spoke.

"If you knew, why didn't you contact me on the day? Or come to the party that was hosted?" Daniel asked his brother, the freshly-baked questions being tossed over in both of their heads. Daniel nervously fiddled with a button on his shirt, almost regretting that he asked now. What if the answer that he got wasn't what he wanted?

"Are you kidding with me?" Barry asked, which was followed by a nervous laugh. Barry watched the confused expression on Daniel's face seem to drop into a bewildered frown, and Barry realized that he wasn't joking. "Are you saying that you didn't get all of the gifts that I sent to you?"

Daniel felt an overwhelming feeling of being cheated, because this could either mean two things. One, Barry was lying to cover up for the lack of contact, or two, the delivery of the gifts that Barry had bought for him had gotten lost or stolen before they reached Daniel. However, when Daniel saw how genuinely confused and concerned Barry was, he couldn't help but believe him.

"Not that I can remember…" Daniel reported back to Barry, who immediately forced himself to take a very deep breath. Before Barry could reply, Daniel took a step forward and carried on talking. "But that doesn't explain why you didn't text or call me to say Happy Birthday, or to wish me a good day. Or why you didn't come to any of my parties. Or-"

Daniel had to stop himself from exploding into a flurry of questions and demands. These questions had bugged him for _years_ , and it went way beyond just this past birthday. From the saddening look on Barry's face, Daniel knew that his older brother knew it too.

"So… You're telling me that you didn't get any of my texts either?" Barry said extremely slowly, a very suspicious feeling coming from the whole situation. Daniel just stood there and shook his head slowly, before biting the corner of his lip.

"Here, look." Barry took his phone out of his pocket smoothly, turning it on and going to the 'Messages' section. Once he was there, Barry easily found Daniel's name, which was strangely near the top of the list. Didn't that mean that the latest text was recent?

"You're telling me that you didn't get all of these?" Barry asked slowly, opening the conversation. A large hole in Daniel's chest seemed to open, as he saw dozens upon dozens of messages sent to his phone by Barry. As Barry went further up the list of messages, Daniel noticed that years were going by without a _single_ response on his part, and he knew immediately that something was _seriously_ wrong.

Daniel took out his own phone and went to his message box with Barry, only for them both to find the complete opposite to what they had found on Barry's phone. Dozens of messages had been sent from Daniel's phone to Barry's phone, but none of them had a reply. Strangely enough, the dozens of messages displayed on one phone didn't show up on the other phone, which logically wouldn't make sense unless one of them blocked the other. However, a quick check proved that it wasn't the case…

Then what was it?

Who had been trying to keep them apart for years?

Noticing the conversation getting drearier as time moved on, Barry put his phone away and looked at his brother with a heartfelt smile, already seeing all of the emotions swirling through his brother's head. This conversation seriously needed to lighten up.

"If we keep going like this, we're going to become as paranoid as Batman." Barry chuckled outwardly to his brother, who only smiled weakly at the comment. "Come on, cheer up! It was probably just a stupid phone error! The important thing is that we're together _now_! We can figure out all of this stuff another time!" Barry said as he wrapped his rather fragile arms around his younger brother's shoulder and squeezed them reassuringly.

This time, Daniel actually brought himself to smile genuinely, both of his lips curving upward into a curved link line. Barry was right. The past didn't matter for now, as long as they were together now and hopefully from now on. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just forget it for now." Daniel replied to Barry, who was back to his joyful attitude.

That expression didn't last long, however, because just a few moments later, all of the lights in the city were knocked out. Barry's smile dropped into a concerned frown, and the brown haired man turned around to look out of the massive window that faced into the city.

"Woah…"

Daniel was the first one to verbally respond to the phenomenon unravelling in front of them both, which was quickly followed by a sudden realization. This was happening at Star Labs! Harry! He was inside of the facility! His heart began to beat extraordinarily fast, and by the time he got this phone out of his pockets, the blonde was already shaking.

Barry noticed that Daniel was distressed, and a hint of confusion was evident on his face for a moment, before it dissipated. Between the events of the last 15 minutes, Barry had completely forgotten the fact that Dr. Harrison Wells was Daniel's legal parent, and had been for the last 10 years.

"It will be okay Danny, your…" Barry paused for a second as he thought about what to call Dr. Wells. "... Dad, will be fine..." Barry said the last part uncertainly, as he hadn't get figured out the relationship between Daniel and Dr. Wells yet.

"Y-Yeah…" Daniel took a deep breath and brought the phone up to his ear slowly. For the second time that day, Daniel's heart was racing at inhuman speeds; Both of the brother's now waiting for Dr. Wells to answer the phone call…

"Investigator Allen! All available cops are needed down at S.T.A.R Labs as soon as possible!" The voice of Captain Singh came booming from down the stairs, and Barry knew that they needed to go. Barry turned his attention quickly to the stairs and began to hurry towards it, until he realized that Daniel hadn't moved from his spot.

"Danny, we need to get going!" Barry exclaimed loudly to his brother with a desperate voice, swiftly making it back over to his brother and reaching over to take a hold of Daniel's shoulder. Just as he did that, someone had answered the phone on the other side, and a vastly relieved expression crossed Daniel's face. Barry realized that it meant that Dr. Wells hadn't been hurt.

"I'm okay! I wasn't near the bl-"

If Daniel could take back his words, he would have. Daniel didn't even get to finish the sentence before a deafening roar erupted from the sky above, followed by an intolerable pain which ripped through _both_ of the brothers simultaneously, knocking them unconscious and sending them sailing across the large room; one into a wooden shelf of unnamed chemicals, and the other into the wall…


	2. Metahuman

**A Different Kind of Story**

 **Chapter 2: Awakening**

" ** _Don't let your fear of what could happen make nothing happen."_** \- **Doe Zantamata**

* * *

 _Beep…. Beep…. Beep…._

The sound of a heart monitor…

It was the first thing that Daniel could make out when his brain started to clear up. He wasn't sure where he was, or what happened the last time he was awake, but the fact that his arms were moving more sluggish then usual proved that he'd been down for quite a while.

Before he knew it, Daniel had already reach up and pluck the crystal-clear breathing tube out of his parched mouth, which was eventually followed by the heart monitoring wires that had been sprawled over his pale chest. Usually, if he woke up to a chilly breeze rushing through the house, Daniel would complain about Dr. Wells putting on the A/C all night, but today was different.

This definitely _wasn't_ home…

"Where…?"

The sound of voices could be heard from deeper into the complex, and a few moments later, Daniel found himself on his feet, heading towards the exit of the recovery room. The further he walked, the more he realized that this place _definitely_ wasn't a hospital. The walls were grey or metallic, and there were no windows in sight, even as Daniel hobbled out of the room.

As he staggered along, the blonde haired teen began to sparsely remember things. The police station… Why had he been at the police department? As Daniel desperately attempted to pull his thoughts back together, blotches of his memories began to return to him, albeit barely.

Soon enough, the bewildered teenager got to a dimly-lit corridor that seemed to be a large circle. The voices were getting louder, that was certain. Daniel kept walking towards the voices, unknowingly heading towards the Cortex, where Barry, Dr. Wells, Caitlin and Cisco where having a meeting.

Inside of the Cortex, they were all standing around the computer area near the entrance, with Dr. Wells and Caitlin standing closer to the door, and Cisco and Barry standing opposite them. All of their faces portrayed a certain emotion, with Cisco leading in confusion, Caitlin with concern, and Barry with irritation.

"We should tell him. Something so big shouldn't be kept from people that are close to us." Barry's opinion was obvious, and his glaring green eyes told everyone in the room that he was serious. Even though they had all known him for month, give or take a week, they had never seen him so certain about something.

From his own personal experiences with life, the older Allen knew that a simple lie could lead to very destructive relationship; One which Barry did _not_ want to pursue with his newly found brother. The best relationships were formed on trust and honesty, and by withholding such crucial information from Daniel, Barry was practically _begging_ for disaster.

"May I remind you again Barry, but isn't it the exact same reason why you choose not to tell Iris?" Harrison Well's smooth voice responded to Barry, which was quickly followed by the sound of his metallic wheelchair wheeling him in Barry's direction. Harry lifted his hands up to his black rimmed glasses and removed them slowly, while he glanced up at Barry, expressionless brown eyes meeting with Barry's passionate green eyes.

"If he finds out, it means that one person _too much_ knows that you are the Flash." Harrison told them all firmly, using his joystick to move his wheelchair to face all three of them. "What would happen if he tells someone who the Flash is under the mask?"

Caitlin bit her lip anxiously as she listened. So far, she hadn't gotten into the debate between Barry and Dr. Wells, choosing to simply stand and listen. Over the course of the past month, Barry and Dr. Wells had several arguments about revealing the Flash's identity to Daniel, and in none of the encounters did Caitlin get involved. However, when the room fell into silence, Caitlin inhaled deeply and stepped up.

"I agree with Dr. Wells…" Caitlin told the group, all of the eyes in the room turning to her in an instant. Caitlin felt her body shiver when she noticed the slightly hurt look reflecting in Barry's emerald green eyes. Taking another deep breath, Caitlin continued.

"It could lead to some serious problems, Barry. If Daniel told someone, it could spread like wild-fire, and next thing you know meta-humans will be knocking on your front door." Caitlin warned Barry, her opinion conveying a very deep message. Barry knew what that meant.

Iris and Joe would be endangered because of him.

"I understand what you're saying Caitlin, but that is only one possibility." Cisco decided to chime in, his voice also drawing attention to himself. The short Latino adjusted his body and awkwardly faced Dr. Snow, both of his dark eyes locking with her own. "There's also the possibility that he won't tell anyone. In that case, telling him would save Barry from having to lie to Daniel abo-"

"Lie to me about what?"

Everyone in the room froze for a second, before turning around quickly to face the entrance of the Cortex. At the entrance, Daniel was standing with a bewildered expression stretched across his creamy face. The room fell into a silence for a few moments, before Caitlin jumped into action.

The blonde haired teenager knew that he had stumbled into the room at the wrong moment, and even a 2nd grader would have been able to figure out that the people in the room was hiding something from him. Daniel knew that it was something important, and an _unquenchable_ itching feeling began to emanate from his right shoulder; one that he didn't hesitate to itch at a moment's notice.

It was a predisposition that the teenager had gained over the years; in which an inextinguishable itch would dominate the younger Allen's right shoulder whenever he had a strong desire to know something. Even despite the fact that the _incredibly_ attractive, chocolate haired woman had implied that the risk of him telling anyone, and unleashing a storm of meta-humans *whatever they were* at his older brother, Daniel was craving to know the secret.

It didn't take long for Daniel's thoughts to get taken over by Caitlin, who was shining a mini-flashlight in his face and forcing him to squint. Daniel groaned uncomfortably and tried to step away from the brunette, but she gripped his arm tightly and pulled him back so that she could start to ask him questions.

The three men of S.T.A.R Labs stood back and watches as Caitlin practically interrogated him about his current condition, while Daniel waved off her questions with confusion increasing each second. Cisco and Barry could only chuckle as they watched the shirtless teen's eyes bounce around from each one of them, while Caitlin kept asking questions.

No one in the room could have been more relieved than Barry at this moment. When Barry had awoken from his 8-month slumber, he had expected for his brother to wake up alongside him. However, as time went on and Daniel didn't wake up, Barry started to think that Daniel would be stuck in a coma forever. The last month had been an intense waiting game, but now it finally had results.

Barry had his brother back.

Harrison Well's watched Daniel with an outward smile, and a joyful expression on his face. On the inside, however, his mind was reeling as he took in Daniel's appearance. There was some subtle difference, like the increased muscle mass that his adopted son was showing. Similar to Barry, Daniel's body hadn't gotten worst while in a coma, but it did the reverse.

That could only mean one thing…

"I'm going to need you to urinate into this cup for me." Caitlin told Daniel firmly, looking directly into his cerulean eyes for a few seconds. Daniel raised his thin eyebrows as he examined the glass container that Caitlin had propped up to his face, obviously at his limit.

"Um… Could you give me a minute? I'm still very confused about all of this." Daniel told her politely, before turning his attention to the others in the room. Daniel didn't recognize the short Latino guy, but his mind had cleared enough for him to recognized Barry and his dad almost instantly; both of his bright blue eyes lighting up in response.

It was also at that moment that Daniel realized Harrison was in a wheel-chair, and his entire facial expression dropped into a concerned frown. "What happened to you?" Daniel asked Harrison, his voice easily projecting how concerned he was for the older scientist.

"When the Particle Accelerator exploded 9 months ago, Dr. Wells was caught in the blast." Cisco told the startled teen, who turned to face Cisco in an instant. Before Daniel could say anything, Cisco continued. "You've been in a coma for the last 9 months." Cisco finished.

Daniel's eyes widened considerably, and the blonde haired teenager turned to Harrison Wells for confirmation; not believing what the short Latino had said. Daniel's jaw quickly became unhinged and his cheeks became slightly flustered when Harry frowned and nodded his head, confirming what Cisco said as true.

"9 months?" Daniel asked Cisco softly, his voice becoming much quieter. Daniel turned his attention down to his bare chest and shivered as a chilly breeze ripped through his body, causing the teenager to shudder. It was at that moment when he realized something was seriously different about his body.

"9 months in a coma and now I have abs?" Daniel said to no-one in particular, his voice laced with confusion. "I'm not a doctor or anything, but shouldn't my muscles be worn out or something?" Daniel asked the group, swiftly looking up at Cisco and then down at his impressive muscles.

Well, it wasn't like he was complaining or anything.

Caitlin walked over to the startled teen and looked over his body with a quick inspection, before turning away and walking towards the computers. "They _should_ be worn down, but instead they are in a state of unexplained cellular regeneration." Caitlin told Daniel smoothly, as if she had said it before. In fact, Caitlin had told Barry those exact same words when he first woke up from his coma.

"A coma… How?" As Daniel asked the group, he glanced around the room for something to cover up his exposed chest and cold torso. After a few moments of looking around, Harrison threw a S.T.A.R Labs shirt towards Daniel, who caught the shirt with easy and put it on.

"When the Particle Accelerator exploded, all of the Dark Matter from the blast was sent throughout central city, including the air space." Barry finally interjected, letting his voice radiate through the room. Every eye in the room turned to him, and he couldn't help but to grin.

Barry could see the panicked expression that was emanating from Dr. Well's facial expressions, and he couldn't help but to mentally grimace. It was clear to Barry that Dr. Wells thoughts that he was going to tell Daniel about him being the Flash; which would be completely disregarding and disrespecting Dr. Well's opinion on whether they should tell Daniel.

"The Dark Matter in the clouds enticed a lightning storm, and when me and you were talking in my office, we were struck by a lightning bolt." Barry told his younger brother, who was standing with his clear eyes locked on specifically on Barry. The room went silent for a moment, as they all let Daniel comprehend the information that he was receiving.

Daniel stood dumbfounded in the entrance of the Cortex, his mouth slightly agape and his mind scrambling to piece together everything that happened. So from what he could gather, when he had gone to see Barry at the Police Station, the Particle Accelerator exploded and caused a thunder storm which created a lightning bolt that had struck both him and Barry, putting them in a comma.

That didn't seem to satisfy Daniel though. Something seemed to be off about the story. First of all, how did he get struck by lightning and survive practically unscathed, excluding the coma which magically gave him muscles? He hadn't gotten to speak to Barry much yet, seeing as he'd only been awake for nearly an hour, but from what he could see, his older brother seemed perfectly fine.

Well, except for one subtle change.

"Was that a side effect of the lightning?" Daniel asked Barry, while he scrutinized his brother's face intently, the expression warping Daniel's face now obviously being pure interest. Barry raised his eyebrows considerably when he heard Daniel's words, uncertainty displaying itself in his body language.

What was Daniel seeing? It wasn't just Barry that was wondering the same question, as everyone in the room except for the teen had a deep look of perplexity written across their faces. It wasn't until Daniel took a few more seconds to examine Barry, and then explain himself, did they understand.

"I meant your eyes. When I saw you in your office, they were chocolate brown. They've always been brown, ever since we were little." Daniel explained slowly, completely engrossed in the change. "You didn't notice that your eyes are _emerald green_ now?"

Barry didn't know what to say. It was the smallest change that his body had made when the dark matter infused lightning bolt had struck him, and between the super speed and attempting to make a good reputation with Central City, he hadn't noticed it. However, he couldn't clam up now, because it was raise too much suspicion.

"Ohh, you meant my eyes! Of course I noticed that they changed colors!" Barry lied casually, a deep-filled grin crossing his face when he saw the confusion drop from Daniel's face. "Yeah, that was the _only_ side effect that the coma had on me. Well, there's that and the fact that I also got super buff."

Daniel seemed to take that explanation fairly easily, and the teenager turned to look at Caitlin and Cisco; who had both shrunk off to the other side of the room. Daniel considered calling for them so that he could get to know the two strangers a little better, but he stopped himself; remembering that they were all hiding something important from him.

Strangely enough, Daniel remembered _everything_ , word for word, that he had heard when he accidentally stumbled into the Cortex earlier, and had a few questions tumble rolling around in his head. The room went a little silent for a few seconds as Cisco and Caitlin went over Daniel's coma records, Dr. Wells was going over some files, and Barry grabbed his jacket.

"Alright guy, I'm going to need to get going. I'm already late for wo-"

"What's a meta-human?"

The room went into a tense silent, as everyone stopped what they were doing. Daniel awkwardly swayed from side to side, impatiently waiting for someone to answer his question. He knew that it was highly unlikely that they would tell him, seeing as it involved whatever they were hiding from him, but it was worth a shot.

Harry was the first to break out of his stupor, and the scientist turned to his son and smiled very thinly. "That's a topic for another time, Daniel. Right now, Caitlin is going to examine you to make sure that you are completely fine." Harry told Daniel, who nodded his head in acceptance.

They all exhaled deeply when they saw Daniel nod his head, and Cisco returned to examining Daniel's coma records. However, his mind was occupied by several questions. How much of their conversation did Daniel hear? What ability did the Particle Accelerator give Daniel, if it gave him anything at all?

When Barry had first woken up and displayed his impossible super speed, Cisco had assumed that Daniel would also have the ability of super speed. After all, both Barry and Daniel were both hit by the same bolt of lightning, right? That part was right, but it wasn't entirely correct to assume that Daniel would also have super speed.

Both Cisco and Dr. Wells had concluded that Barry's super speed ability had not only formed because of the lightning strike, but also the electrified chemicals that had fallen on Barry once he was struck. Daniel didn't have such chemicals fall on him when he was struck.

Instead, Daniel had been thrown into a concrete wall opposite Barry when he was struck. By striking the wall so hard, he had cracked the top of his cranium open, along with creating a large gash on the top of his head. No chemicals were involved, only the dark matter infused lightning and the top of his head being cracked open.

Over the course of the 9 months when Daniel was in his coma, the wound had healed extraordinarily fast, taking only a few weeks to heal instead of the ordinary 1 to 2 months. Not only that, but after a few more weeks, there was no evidence that the fracture had even happened!

The entire situation had perplexed Cisco, but now that they had information about meta-humans and the incredible abilities that they can possess, Cisco understood that Daniel had been _definitely_ displaying some sort of awesome meta-human ability.

Just what was it?

Cisco was about to pull out a file on Daniel's latest brain activity, but before he could, he was startled out of his concentration by Barry; who had tapped him on the shoulder and offered a fist bump. Cisco grinned goofily and fist bumped his closest guy-friend, before putting the file down and turning his attention back to what was going on with the rest of the people in the room.

"You're leaving?" Daniel's voice peeked Barry's attention, and he swiveled around on his heel to face the blonde, who had a rather surprised look on his creamy face. "I just woke up. Can't you stay until they finish checking me up?" Daniel asked Barry with pleading eyes. The teen wasn't begging, because he absolutely _loathed_ seeing people beg for things; whether it be for an item, or even a person.

"Sorry, Danny, but I can't. I'm already late for work and my boss is going to kill me if I don't hand in the rest of my work by tonight!" Barry told Daniel, who smiled weakly and nodded his head. Barry generally felt torn between going to work, or calling in and pretending to be sick so that he could spend more time with his brother. Unfortunately, Barry knew that he _needed_ to finish work on time, because his duties as the Flash needed him to be energized and ready for anything, not sloppy because he had to stay up half of the night catching up to work.

"It's alright. We can always hang out another day when you're free." Daniel told Barry with a smile, causing Barry to sigh loudly with a smile across his face. Barry had thought that Daniel would somehow make him feel guilty about leaving, but gladly the teenager was pretty chill.

"See you, Danny." Barry said aloud as he approached Daniel and extended his arms outward, inviting his brother for a hug. This time, Daniel didn't hesitate to step forward and hug his brother back. They both felt a strange warmth filling the gap that had been lost for all of the years that they had been separate.

They were both glad to have each other back.

All of the onlookers smiled warmly at the heart-touching scene, pausing whatever they had been doing to watch it unfold. After a few moments, the brothers separated and they both stood with an exhilarated rush, evident through both of their facial and body expressions.

Barry then proceeded to say his farewells to Cisco, Caitlin and Dr. Wells, before leaving the Cortex. Once he was out of the Cortex and out of sight, Barry grinned and set off into a sprint. When he did, time seemed to slow down considerably for him, the whole world seemingly coming to a complete stop.

The speedster made it outside in under a second, and once he made it outside yellow electricity began _overflowing_ from his body, charging each and every one of Barry's cells with the power of the Speed Force. The electricity filled him entirely, and in no time, Barry sped like a bolt of lightning away from S.T.A.R Labs.

* * *

"Yeah, I'll be at school tomorrow. I'm catching up to some subjects right now." Daniel's voice rang through the eerie empty household, filling up every room with his exhausted voice. Plates clattered together obnoxiously loud, filling up the room with even more unwanted noise.

"I'd invite you to come and chill but my Dad said that I can't have anyone over until I finish catching up with the rest of my work." Daniel reported with a clearly irritated expression running across his face. Daniel held his new phone up to his ear with his right hand, while he finished doing the dishes with his left hand; albeit reluctantly.

It had been nearly a week since he had woken up from his coma, and the last week had been a complete _hell_. Harrison Wells, being the strict and loving father that he was, had 'insisted' that Daniel catch up to _every_ subject that he missed out on when he was knocked out. That included nearly the entire 9th grade, full of theories and mathematical equations that Daniel had no idea about a few days ago.

Strangely enough, as Daniel had studied though the mountains of books during the week, he had noticed that he was noticeably more intellectual than ever before. Harry had told him that it was probably because he hadn't seen his own intelligence before, but Daniel knew better than that.

His memory had become impossibly phenomenal. The teen could remember every moment since he woke up from his coma, in extremely stunning detail, including every sound and voice that he heard during each memory. His memory had become somewhat like an ongoing video that he could rewind and revisit at any time he pleased. After some research, Daniel had realized that it was similar to Eidetic memory; but Daniel dared to believe that his memory was even more vivid then that.

Most people that claim to have had Eidetic memory say that they can see a visual image in their mind that is almost perfect; in which they recall their memories. In Daniel's case, he completely _revisits_ the moment, capturing it in flawless detail, as if it was all happening again in front of his very eyes. It was _incredible_.

Daniel didn't know how he had gained this marvelous ability, but he was glad that he did. Instead of it taking months to catch up with all of his school work, Daniel was almost completely finished with all _9 months_ of catching up in just 6 days. Once the teen set his eyes on a page, it was only a few seconds before he soaked up all of the information like a sponge in water; and he loved it.

Unfortunately, the blonde still needed sleep like most ordinary kids his age, and despite the fact that he could work at a much faster speed than ever before, the young Allen still got very tired, very easily. Daniel was currently on his last book and he desperately wanted to get it done for tomorrow, so that he could hang out with his best friend, William "Billy" Batson, for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"Yeah, and if you keep me on the phone for much longer, I won't be able to hang out after school tomorrow." Daniel warned his friend over the phone, a sly smile snaking across his face when the other end of the call went silent for a few seconds.

" _Fine, sneaky bastard, you win this time! I'll see you tomorrow!"_ Billy's voice replied from the other end of the call; his slightly high pitched voice augmented because of how worn out he also was. Daniel's eyebrows raised at the strange high pitched noise that his friend had emitted.

"Alright, see ya' later Bill-"

" _No wait! Don't forget to bring sun glasses tomorrow!"_

Daniel raised his thin eyebrows considerably at the request; an amused chuckle escaping from his slightly agape lips as he did. "And why should I bring sun glasses?" Daniel asked Billy, playfully pretending to be cautious as he did.

" _It's a surprise! Trust me, it's worth the paranormal itching!"_

Daniel exhaled obnoxiously loud when he heard that it was a surprise. He could already feel the irritating 'paranormal' itch, as Billy would call it, clawing at his right shoulder, and the blonde inhaled deeply to try and tone down the mind-numbing urge to scratch himself.

"It better be worth the wait, Billy! Goodnight!" Daniel said his farewell to Billy, just as he lowered his new phone from his right ear and ended the call. Why did Billy want Daniel to bring his sun glasses to school tomorrow? The more Daniel thought about it, the less the answers that he thought of made sense, so eventually he gave up.

"Now to finish the last book." Daniel had finished cleaning the dirty dishes while he was on the phone to Billy, so when he ended the call, Daniel made a straight bee line for his room, making it to his private chamber shortly after. The teen sat down at his desk immediately and put his feet up on his stiff wooden desk; taking his phone back out of his pocket and holding the disregarded study book in his other hand loosely.

"Barry…" Daniel let his older brother's name slip off of his tongue smoothly, while he opened up their text messaging history for the last week. His relationship with Barry was undeniably getting better, seeing that they literally had _no_ contact before they got struck by lightning, and they were both enjoying each other's existence.

They had only physically seen each other 3 times in the last 6 days, two of which being when they both happened to be chilling at S.T.A.R Labs at the same time. The third time was a few days ago, when Barry had taken Daniel to the mall so that Daniel could buy some new clothes for school, seeing as his old clothes from before the coma didn't fit him anymore.

Apart from those times, the two surviving Allen kids=623 had been talking almost _constantly_ over text messages, a steady stream of more than 500+ messages having been sent from each phone. Mostly, they talked about how their lives had been so far, and all of the things that they both did during the 10 years of miscommunication. Even despite all of the text messages, Daniel still felt like he still didn't know _anything_ about his older brother.

Daniel: _Hey Barry! What's up?_

 _Sent 1:04 AM_

Daniel sent the message and put his phone flat down on his dense desk, so that he could focus on his study book. The heir of S.T.A.R Labs opened up the book and swiftly scanned through the first few pages with ease, memorizing the pages in no time at all. The phone vibrated violently against the wooden desk, and Danny quickly picked it up.

Barry: _Nothing much! Just hanging out at the Lab with Cisco and Caitlin!_

 _Received 1:06 AM_

Daniel narrowed his cerulean eyes considerably when he read the text message, the confusion on his creamy face quickly becoming apparent. Why was Barry at the lab at 1 in the morning? Scratch that… Why was Barry _always_ at the lab? It didn't make sense at all.

The only logical excuse that Barry had for being at S.T.A.R Labs was because Caitlin was his doctor, but surely Barry didn't need to get checked up on medically every day? And even if they were just planning to hang out, why couldn't they go to Cisco or Caitlin's apartments? Something fishy was definitely going on over there, and Daniel had a feeling that he knew what it involved.

Daniel: _Why do you guys always hang out at the Lab? It's kind of weird._

 _Sent 1:07 AM_

This time, Daniel didn't put down his phone. He wanted to know the truth, or at least get a hint about what they were hiding from him. It didn't take long for Barry to shoot a message back.

Barry: _Well… Cisco and Caitlin's apartment complex is being overrun with cockroaches and creepy crawlies. They can't stay there until an exterminator bombs the apartments, so we just hang out here._

 _Received 1:07 AM_

Daniel had felt like accusing Barry of lying, but he had no evidence to back up his own claim; the only suspicion that the teenager had being the strange conversation that he had walked into when Caitlin, Cisco, Barry and Dr. Wells were arguing in the Cortex. From replaying the conversation _over_ and _over_ again in his head, Daniel had a full understanding about what was going on.

Barry had to lie to Daniel about something very important, which would potentially put Barry into a lot of danger if Daniel found out. The danger somehow involved meta-humans, which Daniel couldn't understand himself, seeing as Barry seemed like an ordinary guy. What did meta-humans want with Barry?

Dr. Wells had told him very subtle details about the meta-humans, simply informing him that they had started to appear a few months ago, and he was very firm when telling the teen that they were _extremely_ dangerous. For some reason, it seemed that Barry was housing a secret which made all of the meta-humans despise him, and apparently Daniel wasn't trustworthy enough to be let in.

Daniel: _You sure that it doesn't have anything to do with that secret you guys are keeping from me?_

 _Sent 1:08 AM_

Daniel's heart began to race after he sent the message, all of the blood in his veins circulating faster than normal. When did this secret get so important to him? He couldn't recall the exact moment, but if Daniel had to pick a moment, it would probably be right now. Why didn't they think he was trustworthy enough to know? The very thought that they are all purposely withhold information from his made his blood boil, and a frown formed on his face.

Barry: _I know that you might feel like we are keeping something from you, but it's for you own safety, trust me._

 _Received 1:09 AM_

Daniel glared down at the message for a minute or two, not knowing whether he should believe it or not. After all, why should Daniel trust Barry, if Barry wouldn't trust Daniel? In Daniel's perspective, Barry only wanted to keep himself safe by not telling Daniel, which would lower the chances of revealing Barry's secret.

Daniel: _Or are you just trying to keep yourself safe?_

 _Sent: 1:11 AM_

This time, Barry didn't reply immediately. The message that Daniel sent was marked 'Read', which confirmed that his older brother saw it, but it was obvious after a few minutes that Barry wasn't going to respond. The room dropped into an agonizing silence…

…

Daniel's jaw was clenched shut as he stared down at the text message, and he could practically feel his heart violently thrashing in his chest. Before he knew it, his body was quivering uncontrollably, to the point where it could be classified as shaking, and his fist became tightly wrapped around his phone.

"FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"

Daniel swiveled around in his work chair and belligerently chucked his phone to the other side of the room, his overwhelming fury taking the better of him. It wasn't the first time that the teen went into fits of anger, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"I didn't even do anything-"

Daniel stopped mid-sentence, his entire facial structure switching from exasperation to astonishment at a moment's notice. He was looking at something that made him completely forget about the what had happened just a moment ago, and mixed emotions were circulating through his head.

No doubt, elation was ruling them all, for what Daniel saw was beyond human comprehension…

His phone was floating in the air unsupported, as if it was in a suspended animation, entirely unaffected by gravity or any other law of science. With his wide mouth gaping, Daniel instinctively reached his creamy hand in the direction of the phone, consciously willing it to return to his hand.

Initially, Daniel didn't believe that it would work. After all, it couldn't be possible that he had stopped the phone's momentum with his mind… Right? However, when the phone rapidly sped into his awaiting palm, Daniel couldn't think of any other explanation…

He was a meta-human.


	3. Heatwave

**A Different Kind of Story**

 **Chapter 3:** First Day

" _Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."_ – **Buddha**

 ** _Previously_**

 _Daniel's phone was floating in the air unsupported, as if it was in a suspended animation, entirely unaffected by gravity or any other law of science. With his wide mouth gaping, Daniel instinctively reached his creamy hand in the direction of the phone, consciously willing it to return to his hand._

 _Initially, Daniel didn't believe that it would work. After all, it couldn't be possible that he had stopped the phone's momentum with his mind… Right? However, when the phone rapidly sped into his awaiting palm, Daniel couldn't think of any other explanation…_

 _He was a meta-human._

* * *

The next morning had been a horror show for Daniel Allen. It was painfully obvious to Harrison that his adopted son had ignored the advice that he had given him, because it had taken several prolonged shakes and a freezing bucket of water to finally wake Daniel from his prolonged nap.

Both of them knew why Daniel hadn't gotten much sleep last night, although Daniel would never have told Harrison on his own, seeing as the well-known scientist had told the teenager that meta-humans were unimaginably hazardous.

No, unless his father changed his opinion on meta-humans, the blonde meta-human wouldn't tell Harrison about his new abilities.

Little did Daniel know, the cunning man had other ways to find out about his confirmed meta-human status, and had found out a few hours after Daniel had discovered the abilities in his room. What Harrison would do with the knowledge was unknown.

Daniel made it into Central City High the moment the bell rang out, and the dysfunctional teenager had stood in the lobby with a poker face for the first five minutes, not sure what he should do. When the receptionist finally noticed him, the blonde had been taken to a room at the far end of the school, where he took a 2-hour long placement test, which he was positive that he got 100% in.

When Daniel was eventually released from the testing room, he had been met with a massive flux of new faces, varying from students he hadn't seen before, to teachers he had known since he had been accepted into the school. Each and every one of them had a different reaction when they saw him.

The majority of the students had a stunned expression their faces when they saw Daniel, seeing as they hadn't seen him in the last 9 months. Sure, they all knew about what had happened to him when the Particle Accelerator exploded, but none of them had known that he recently woke up.

Occasionally, Daniel would spot a few sour faces staring in his direction as he skittishly walked towards his next class, but it didn't unnerve him in the slightest. The teen had been warned that his presence could bring up some _untamed_ emotions for the students that had lost family members in the Particle Accelerator blast, despite the fact that he didn't have anything to do with it malfunctioning.

Unfortunately for Daniel, there were a multitude of theories roaming the internet that framed Daniel for tampering with the Particle Accelerator and causing it to malfunction. Strangely enough, there was an enormous fan base for said theories, despite the only evidence being that Daniel hadn't appeared for his speech. Any intellectual person would have been able to figure out that Daniel logically couldn't have messed with the Particle Accelerator _and_ made it to the Police Station a few minutes later.

Daniel had already read through some of the theories and had shrugged them off as harmless. After all, who in their right mind could believe something so idiotic, right?

Wrong.

* * *

"Alright class, settle down." A middle-aged and glamorous history teacher addressed her class powerfully, desperately hoping that she'd calm the raging classroom of 10th grader. It was obvious to her after a few seconds that her yelling wasn't going to work, and the woman exhaled deeply.

This was just an ordinary Monday for her. Even after 5 years of being a history teacher, the sight of a group of hormonal teenagers heading to her classroom on a Monday morning made her blood run cold. It definitely _wouldn't_ be an understatement to say that she hated Mondays even more then she hated being a High School Teacher.

If she had a choice, Catherine Grant would have preferred to be a News Anchor on prime time, but life doesn't always work out the way that you plan. Almost as soon as Cat had finished High School in Metropolis, she applied to go to College in Central City.

A few years ago, Central City was one of America's number one places of employment, which Catherine had been ready to exploit. A few weeks after she had finished High School, the blonde had been accepted at Central City College and she traveled with her boyfriend, Joseph Morgan, from 'The City of Tomorrow' all the way to Central City, a _very_ ordinary city.

When they landed in the city, Cat and Joseph were hit with a mixed blessing; finding out that Cat was pregnant. After a few weeks of constant debate, they had decided that Cat would go to College to become a teacher, knowing that working as a News Anchor was a very time consuming job, and deciding that spending time with their child was more important.

Adam Grant-Morgan was born on December 23rd 2005, and became the center of both parent's attentions. Cat became a High School teacher while Joseph became a legal business representative of Lex Corps in Central City. It was perfect at first, but perfection is only temporary…

When Adam turned 7 years old, and Lex Corps was at an all-time high, Joseph was found dead in his office, slouched down on his chair with several tiny holes in his chest, but with no sign of a murder weapon. Nobody knew who or what killed him, and the security camera footage happened to be erased on that night, leaving them all with nothing to go on.

The case was discontinued after a few months, and no murderer was found, much to the dismay of the mourning wife and son that was left behind. Fortunately for the family of two, the murderer didn't come back to kill them, and it went silent from then on.

Catherine continued to live the next 3 years of her life the best that she could, and gave her son the best life that she could possibly offer. She didn't get into another relationship, in fear that Adam would resent her if she married someone else that wasn't his father. Fortunately for her, she was able to move past what happened.

"JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW, YOUR CLASSMATE DANIEL ALLEN IS BACK TODAY!

The whole class halted in their movement and dropped into pin-drop silence. Catherine raised her eyebrows when all 30 eyes in the room turned to glare at her as if she had gone insane. Most of them looked surprised, but Catherine could spot one person in the wave of students with a furious grimace on her face.

"A _murderer_ shouldn't be allowed near public society. No less, a serial killer." The 10th grade girl called out to her teacher, disgust intertwined with each word that flew out of her mouth. The extremely attractive brunette's chocolate brown eyes lashed out towards her teacher, who calmly met eyes with the girl. Her thin pink lips slightly parted to say something else, but she was interrupted by Catherine.

"That isn't a very nice accusation to make about your classmate, Alex. Daniel is a nice student, and I expect you all to act accordingly around him." Catherine ordered her class firmly, fixating her gaze at all of her students, especially Alex Merkel, who had fire and brimstone stirring behind her eyes. It always unnerved Catherine when one of her students displayed lack of respect for Daniel. She knew that Daniel was a nice kid, seeing that he had been Adam's babysitter for the last 2 years, and Cat knew that he wasn't stupid enough to mess with the Particle Accelerator.

"He isn't a _nice_ student! He messed with the wiring of the Particle Accelerator and-"

"Shut up, Alex." An irritated voice came booming from the entrance of the classroom, causing every head to whip around to face the sudden voice. Standing at the entrance of the classroom, Billy Batson's figure could be seen firmly grounded and the short teenager was clearly vexed by the brunette girl's accusations.

Billy's glowing blue eyes met with Alex's burning hazel eyes, and he couldn't help but to grit his teeth at the girl's stupidity. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she believed in what she had seen on the internet, and the very thought disgusted him. Ever since the theories had popped up on the internet, Billy had been back and forth defending his best friend from all sort of horrendous accusations, occasionally getting into physical confrontations, mainly losing, to back up his friend's case.

Unlike anyone else, Billy knew exactly what his friend was capable of doing; and it was a fact that Daniel didn't have the guts to mess with any of his father's projects; especially the Particle Accelerator, which was Dr. Well's biggest project. Not only that, Billy had assisted Daniel in planning how he was going to escape from S.T.A.R Labs on the day of the Particle Accelerator's grand opening so that he could meet Barry.

It didn't make sense.

"Daniel was at the Police Station 30 minutes before the accident happened. If you think that he was the cause of the Particle Accelerator explosion, then you must be _delusional_." Billy declared clearly, his harsh word directed not only at Alex, but at anyone else in the room that dared to side with the enraged brunette. In response to Billy's statement, the class fell into agitated quietude.

Alex stood up from her seat in one swift movement, her entire body language now expressing the boundless fury that she had bottled up inside of herself the entire time. Most of the students in the classroom shrunk in their seats, fearing the girl's tremendous aggression, knowing that ever since her parents were killed during the Particle Accelerator explosion, she was known for her disturbing emotional outbursts.

"Do you have any _proof_ that he didn't tamper with the Accelerator _hours_ before the unveiling? Last time I checked, you were screwing around with the class weirdo on the night." Alex spoke through gritted teeth and heavy breathing, causing said 'weirdo' to sink even further into his seemingly bottomless seat and cover his poker face with a curtain of grey hair.

Billy's breathing hitched for a moment when Alex tried to pick verbally at one of his friends, and his entire emotional mask morphed from irritation to an unnatural annoyance. It wasn't the first time that someone used his friends to mentally pick at him, and it probably wouldn't be the last time that he snapped back at the person that verbalized the assault.

" _Max_ isn't a weirdo. _You're_ the only weirdo that I can see, _druggie._ " Billy replied effortlessly, dozens of insults piling up in his head for his next reply; each insult patiently waiting at the tip of his tongue. His normally light skin complexion swiftly swirled into a hellish tomato red, and his previously tranquil hands clenched into tight fists. Unlike most people, Billy wasn't afraid to hit a girl, and this girl in particular was riling up Billy's heart rate.

Alex's face hadn't twisted into shock and embarrassment like most in the room thought that it would, but instead, a calm smile had spread across her face; sending chills rippling through the room. Her entire posture became lax and Alex crossed her arms across her chest, a smug expression painted across her face.

"How about you come and say that to my face, _William_." Alex challenged Billy provocatively, using his first name in an attempt to entice him, followed by effortlessly waving the shorter teenager in her direction. Billy couldn't help but think about how misplaced her confidence in herself was. With one word he could have the girl begging at his feet for forgiveness, but Billy's overflowing fury convinced him to go over to Alex.

"You're going to regre-"

"You don't need to defend me, Billy." Daniel's voice rang from the entrance of the classroom, causing everyone's head to snap back to the door. At the entrance, Daniel leaned against the door frame, an intrigued smile snaked across his face as he watched the classroom fall into silence. Billy's eyes fell over his best friend for the first time in 9 months and his entire posture lightened up; quickly followed by a cheerful smile and glowing blue eyes.

Catherine sat back in her teacher's chair and watched as Daniel entered the classroom. She would have stopped the argument between Billy and Alex when it first start, but Daniel had appeared in the hallways and asked her to let the argument continue. Naturally, she'd let it continue until it was obvious that it would result in a fist fight, and that was why Daniel stepped in when he did.

The class calmed down after that, with the exception of the obvious tension between Alex and Billy. Daniel didn't seem to care about the brunette's opinion about him, as he completely ignored her for the rest of the hour. As expected, Daniel and Billy sat together through the class, with Daniel occasionally dropping asleep due to his lack of sleep the night before, and Billy gleefully pinching him awake.

After what seemed like forever, the obnoxiously loud school bell screeched, dragging all of the students in the room back to full attention. Daniel stretched his legs and yawned loudly, extending his arms way above his head to relax his sleep deprived muscles. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't going to be relaxing anytime soon if Billy had anything to say about it.

Billy was practically bouncing on his heels as he waited for the class to be dismissed, the boundless elation inside of him spilling out and fueling him. He'd long forgotten about the argument that transpired at the beginning of the class, and something bigger was on his mind. They just needed to get away from the prying eyes of the people around them.

"Class dismissed."

Before the last letter rolled off of the teacher's tongue, Billy had already established an unbreakable grip on Daniel's arm and sped towards the exit at high speeds, a large grin spreading on his face. Daniel's exhausted face twisted around, displaying a clear look of confusion. Both of his thin eyebrows arched as he was dragged out of the classroom at high speeds, and the teenager swiftly ripped away his arm from Billy's intense grip.

"Where are you taking me?" Daniel managed to peep out, but before the startled boy could respond, an inconceivable force took a hold of Daniel's shoulders, forcing an agonizing expression to paint itself of his face…

A moment later, the blonde's back collided with the closest locker, searing pain instantaneously spreading through his shocked body. Daniel tried to open his eyes but the headache formed from the unexpected contact slowed the process down considerably. By the time they opened, Daniel could make out Alex's clenched fist prepared to drive itself into his face.

" _I'm taking you to hell_."

Alex's words sent arctic chills spewing through Daniel's body, spasms trickling down his spine, and he instinctively tried to push the brunette girl away from him. It didn't take longer than a second to realize that it wasn't going to work. The thin girl's body was considerably stronger then Daniel would have guessed, and despite his muscular body and outward strength, his efforts were completely fruitless, and Alex pinned Daniel on the wall with a single arm.

Alex's strength was extraordinary. Even a moron would have been able to see that. However, a moron wouldn't have been able to figure out that Alex was a meta-human. Fortunately for Daniel, he wasn't a moron. He knew that a petite girl like Alex shouldn't physically be able lift someone that weighs 150+ pounds effortlessly, and especially with one arm!

Knowing that his struggling was useless, Daniel stopped thrashing and tried to touch the ground with his feet, failing miserably. She was holding him at least 2 foot above the ground, and continuously applying pressure to his shoulder, which she had been using to hold him up in the first place. Pain began to explode from his right shoulder, flowing chaotically from the point of connection.

 _Pain! Pain! Pain!_

Daniel's mouth twisted into an oval, and he gritted his teeth in a vain attempt to stifle the pain radiating from his shoulder. He couldn't feel anything other than the _burning_ sensation that consumed his entire body, and his skin began to burn into a crimson red. In that moment of intense pain, the thought of using his new found meta-human abilities were lost to him…

By now, there was a growing crowd of students gathered around the pair, all watching intently the events that were transpiring. Most of the students had their phones out recording the 'fight', not even a slither of desire to try and help Daniel escape the powerful girl. A wave of disgust crashed over the blonde, a frown forming on his already agonizing face, and subconsciously a feeling of hatred formed for each and every one of them …

 _CRACK._

The moment that Daniel could feel the bones in his shoulder erratically begin to shift and crackle, a wave of teachers came barreling into the hallway, separating the sea of erratic students like Moses in the red sea. Before the teachers managed to pry Alex's arm off of Daniel, a sickening _snap_ filled the hallway…

 **Jitters**

" _Barry, there's another fire."_

Barry couldn't help but sigh deeply when he heard the news. This was the seventh fire in the last fortnight, and it was becoming increasingly tiresome for Barry, especially because he couldn't seem to find the twisted arsonist.

So far, Barry saved everyone that was involved in the fires, and he knew that he was gaining some attention from the entire city. The people loved him, but the police were still skeptical about his alliances, despite the fact that Barry had proven that he stood for good several times.

"I'll be right there…" Barry replied to Caitlin over the phone, simultaneously hanging up the phone and sliding it into his loose pocket. When Barry looked up, his emerald eyes caught sight of a smiling waitress heading towards him with a coffee in hand.

"Thank you for coming to Jitters, and I hope that you have a great day." The waitress greeted him casually, in which he responded with a warm smile and taking his coffee from her hand. After quickly thanking her, Barry made his way outside of the coffee shop and into an abandoned alleyway.

Moments later, a scarlet blur raced out of the abandoned alley, faster than the human eye could apprehend. The blur sped through traffic as if it was standing still, and red lightning arched off of him as he sped along. The only thing that the people behind could make out was a red blur that lasted only a fraction of a second.

Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, had a cheshire grin spread across his face, obviously enjoying the feeling of wind and erratic electricity bounced around his entire body. However, the grin wasn't because of the electricity, or even the feeling of pure ecstasy that rushed through him when he felt the perfectly fit, skintight bodysuit tighten against his leg muscles, reminding him of his alter-ego.

As expected, Barry arrived on the scene before the Police had, and the first thing he saw was an apartment complex in flames. Barry ran into the entrance of the apartment, lightning crackling behind him as he zoomed through the first floor.

"There's no one downstairs." Barry spoke loudly, seemingly to himself. The Flash swiftly ran up to the second floor in the blink of an eye, dodging flames and debris as he looked for stranded people. The sound of muffled screaming could be heard on the floor above him, and Barry swiftly ran up the next flight of stairs and located the screaming.

"Help!" The woman wailed loudly, causing Barry to wince. She was curled up into a fetial position, and the flames were growing ever closer to her, bright illuminations lightning her up. The moment the petrified woman laid eyes on Barry, she woman found herself staring up into the bright blue skies, and the overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the red clad man that saved her.

" _Barry, there should only be a few more people. Piece of cake!"_ Cisco's voice came through Barry's intercoms, forcing him to smile widely. However, the smile didn't last very long because of the itching sensation that the Flash began to feel in the back of his throat. He had to stifle back a few coughs before he managed to reply.

"The temperature… It's even hotter than last time.…" Barry informed his team in between frantic coughs. Sweat began to sliver down from the inside of his mask, expressing the extreme heat that Barry was experiencing.

Suddenly, a screeching from the flaming ceiling above the speedster caught his attention. By the time he looked up, the ceiling had almost crushed him under its weight, but Barry barely managed to dive out of the way and allow the ceiling to smash through the area that he was previously standing.

" _Barry, the structure of the building is quickly deteriorating! You need to hurry!_ " Cisco's voice warned through the comms, spurring Barry to act.

In a few seconds, several people were placed safely outside of the burning apartment complex and away from the flames. Thankfully, the ambulance, and police and the fire department arrived on the scene as Barry had finished up.

"Are you guys okay?" The Flash called out to all of the people that he just saved, and they all looked at him with wide eyes, obviously shocked at his seemingly instant arrival. Barry didn't wait for a response, and he swiftly examined all of their outward appearance for any sign of damage or affliction, finding none on any.

Barry stood up straight when he saw that a pair of police officers were approaching him cautiously. He recognized them both instantly, seeing as he worked with them daily as Barry Allen. Eddie Thawne and Joe West. Barry had to force down the urge to grin as they got close enough to speak to him.

"So you must be the _vigilante_ …" Eddie spat distastefully, both of his crustal blue eyes latching on Barry's vibrating face, as if the detective was trying to figure out who was behind the mask.

" _I prefer the Flash, actually. Don't you keep up with social media?_ " Barry asked sarcastically, the constant vibration of his body distorting his voice beyond recognition. Eddie's face twisted downwards into a frown and he took a few steps forward, watching Barry carefully with one hand on his pistol.

"I prefer criminal." Eddie spoke firmly, daringly staring the Flash in the eyes. "You don't have the right to roam our streets a-"

" _-And save people's lives?"_ The Flash asked Eddie casually, not letting the blonde detective pull one of his nerves. Barry knew that what he was doing was right.

The trio fell silent for a few moments, and in an effort to end the awkward silence, Joe turned to the Flash and offered a hand to him. Barry took it and shook Joe's hand smoothly.

"Thank you, Flash. If it wasn't for you, there'd be a lot more casualties today." Joe commended the Flash, trying to hold back a proud smile from crossing his face. Who wouldn't be proud of their son saving the lives of a dozen people?

" _It's my pleasure. I'll see you another time, Detective West and Detective Thawne."_ Flash took a few steps back and turned around, swiftly escaping from the scene and leaving only a trail of yellow lightning in his wake.

 **S.T.A.R LABS**

Barry skidding into the Cortex at extreme speeds, sending papers and documents scattered across the room. He still had his Flash uniform on, minus the hood, and the speedster had an undeniable grin spread across his face.

"We did it again!" Barry hollered loudly, spotting Cisco sitting at one of the computer desks working. Cisco appeared as exhilarated as Barry was, or even more so because of what he just managed to dig up from the archives.

"Congrats, bro! I'm just glad you didn't get burnt to a toast by Heat Wave's flames!" Cisco celebrated gladly, earning a confused eyebrow raise from Barry. Cisco didn't even need to wait to know that Barry wanted him to explain.

"Heat Wave is the pyromaniac's new alias. I made it myself!" The short Latino explained proudly, an obnoxious grin spreading across his chubby face. Barry nodded his head in approval, putting his fist up to his chin as if he was about to enter into a thinking pose.

"I like it." Barry decided truthfully.

"Of course you do. But I've got something that you're going to like even more than a cool nickname!" Cisco told Barry, the excitement intertwined in his word increasing exponentially as he went along. The short Latino headed towards one of the many large computer and he sat down casually and began to type up a storm.

"What did you find?" Barry asked Cisco, his tone of voice indicating that he was highly interested. Both of his eyebrows raised considerably and his emerald eyes latched onto the projection that had been casted on the wall the moment that Barry asked the question.

On the projection, the mug shot of an older man with a bald head and a hardened face was displayed. Barry took little under a second to memorize the face and the name of the man on the screen.

"Mick Rory…" Barry let the name role off of his tongue easily, and it didn't take long for the CSI to recognize the name and the face of the criminal. "He was a thief that we tried to bring in at the beginning of the year, but he somehow escaped."

"He wasn't only a thief. Mick Rory is also a convicted arsenic that has set alight dozens of buildings in his life time." Cisco informed Barry, who had been was listening to each of Cisco's words carefully. Barry connected the dots easily, and Cisco turned his head back to the projection.

Several security camera pictures appeared on the screen, each picture having a clear view of Mick Rory standing suspiciously around some buildings.

"These pictures were taken next to several Central City buildings, minutes before they went up into flames. Good news, I've been able to track Heat Wave back to his hide out via surveillance footage." Cisco told Barry, simultaneously putting on a sour face.

"And the bad news?" Barry asked Cisco, crossing his arms across his chest expectedly. Cisco went back to rapidly typing on his keyboard, and a new set of pictures rolled up on the projector. Now displayed on the screen was Mick entering Stagg Industries and meeting up with a blonde haired business man. Barry's face lifted in surprised when he recognized the business man to be Simon Stagg, the CEO of Stagg Industries.

This was a shocking development for Barry, seeing as he had previously looked up to Simon Stagg on a high pedestal, just below Harrison Wells. Stagg Industries' scientific discoveries grew exponentially in the months following the Particle Accelerator explosion.

"So he's working with Simon Stagg?" Barry asked Cisco, who turned to the speedster and shrugged his shoulders.

"It seems like that. I also found out that Simon Stagg paid for Heat Waves' bail a few weeks ago." Cisco informed Barry, who was already trying to piece the entire situation together. The look on his face displayed pure confusion, and the room fell silent for a few seconds.

"Then why don't I go and take Heat Wave in?" Barry asked Cisco, although he was sure that they both knew the answer already. Barry looked at the pedestal for his Flash costume and he flashed over to it, changing out of his Flash clothes and putting on his ordinary clothes.

"There isn't enough evidence that he committed the crimes. The courts are going to say that it was all coincidental." Cisco told Barry, who was obviously bummed out by the facts. His normally cheerful smile was replaced with a distasteful frown.

Barry would have to catch him in the act.

"Hey, at least you might be dealing with another meta-human. You've practically been on a super villain dry spell after Mardon and The Mist!" Cisco laughed cheerfully, and Barry couldn't help but to join in with the laughter.

"Ahh, you're right! Saving cats from trees and stopping robbers is getting a little boring!" Barry replied gleefully, his eyes glistening at the prospect of fighting another meta-human again. Despite almost dying both times, the fight was exhilarating, and putting Kyle Nimbus in the pipeline was extremely satisfying.

It was around that moment when Barry noticed the lack of a certain brunette doctor and a wheel chaired professor. Barry took another look around the empty Cortex, which confirmed what he had thought. Dr. Wells office door was tightly shut, and Caitlin's own room was also shut.

"Hey, Cisco. Where did Caitlin and Dr. Wells go?" Barry asked the scientist, who's face dropped into a frown almost as soon as Barry's words slipped out of his mouth.

"Daniel was attacked at school by another student about an hour ago." Cisco informed Barry, who's eyes widened slightly, before dropping almost as quickly as they went up. "I didn't get to find out the extent of the injuries because Dr. Wells left with Caitlin as soon as we found out."

Barry stood uneasily, hopping from his left foot to his right foot as he was told. It was clear to Cisco that Barry was bursting to head over to Central City High to see if his brother was fine, especially seeing that Cisco knew about the little skirmish that the two brothers had the night prior.

"Whatever the injury is, he'll recover quickly. DNA proves that he's probably a meta-human now, and seeing that he woke up with the same cellular regeneration as you…" Cisco stopped midsentence when he saw that Barry already had the point.

Barry stood with his arms crossed over his chest, working in conjunction with the stoic look on his face. Shouldn't he be able to tell Danny about his secret identity now? In Barry and Cisco's joint opinion, Daniel's knowing that Barry was the Flash couldn't bring anything bad to the team; especially if Daniel was a meta-human.

Unfortunately, Dr. Wells and Caitlin both didn't agree with their opinions, quickly shutting them both down whenever they brought up the idea. Fortunately, Dr. Snow appeared to be seeing Barry and Cisco's side of the argument as time went on.

However, Dr. Wells hadn't show any sign of changing his opinion in the slightest, and was becoming evidently more frustrated each time that Barry brought it up. Barry couldn't understand it, but he told Dr. Wells that he would respect his decision, seeing that Dr. Wells was Daniel's legal parent.

That meant no more arguing about if they should tell Daniel.

"Yeah, he'll be fine…" Barry to Cisco, his tone of voice downcast and unconvinced. Not because Barry believed that Daniel _wouldn't_ recover from whatever physical infliction that he might have, but because of the mental drift that was forming between Barry and Daniel because of this ridiculous lie.

Barry took his creamy hands out of his pocket and both of his emerald green eyes flashed over with electricity. He turned to the entrance of the Cortex and narrowed his eyes slightly, indicating to Cisco that he was preparing to run.

"Tell everyone that I said hi."

Cisco's voice was the last thing that Barry heard before he went zooming out of the Cortex, red lightning bouncing across his entire body. It would only take a few seconds to get to Daniel's school but the longer Barry ran, it seemed like forever. Barry knew that it was because of the worry he felt for his brother.

The speedster had been warned that Daniel would get some opposition at school, because of some stupid conspiracies online. However, Barry didn't expect that it would be so bad that Daniel would get hurt on his _first day_ back.

Barry skidded to a stop in an alleyway a few yards away from the school, in a place where he was certain that no one would see him. Barry took a quick glance around to make sure that no one was around him, before stepping out and laying his eyes on the school…

Barry hadn't expected to see Central City High in ruins…


	4. Desperate Times

**A Different Kind of Story**

 **Chapter 4:** Protection

" _We all have good and bad inside of us. It's what side we choose to follow that defines who we really are."_ – **J.K Rowling**

 **Previously**

 _Cisco's voice was the last thing that Barry heard before he went zooming out of the Cortex, yellow lightning bouncing across his entire body. It would only take a few seconds to get to Daniel's school but the longer Barry ran, it seemed like forever. Barry knew that it was because of the worry he felt for his brother._

 _The speedster had been warned that Daniel would get some opposition at school, because of some stupid conspiracies online. However, Barry didn't expect that it would be so bad that Daniel would get hurt on his first day back._

 _Barry skidded to a stop in an alleyway a few yards away from the school, in a place where he was certain that no one would see him. Barry took a quick glance around to make sure that no one was around him, before stepping out and laying his eyes on the school…_

 _Barry hadn't expected to see the school in ruins…_

* * *

 **August 25** **th** **2004**

"They were picking on a little kid, and I couldn't let them do that." A young boy's voice rang through the house, filling each empty room like water in a vase. The voice was full of disappointment and uncertainty. Barry swung his feet under the seat repeatedly, as his mother cared for the scrapes on his knees.

"I guess I wasn't fast enough." Barry's next words caught Daniel's attention. The tiny 4-year-old had been seated down in the corner of the room with a toy truck in his, and he was now listening intently to the conversation between his mother and his brother.

"It's better to have a good heart, rather than fast legs." Nora Allen told her son sweetly, the smile on her face reassuring Barry. His face lit up and he smiled back at Nora, who instinctively wrapped her son in a hug.

Daniel stood up from the corner and walked over to his brother, a visible frown on his face. Before that moment, he hadn't particularly been listening to the conversation, preferring his trucks more than his mother patching up his brother, but now that Daniel walked over to Barry and saw the red scrapes and other injuries littered on Barry's body, he became interested.

"Barry, how'd you get _that_?" Daniel asked his brother, dropping his toy truck so that he could point at the obvious injury on Barry's left knee. Daniel's face twisted into one of shock, surprised that his 'invincible' brother had been hurt.

"Umm..." Barry paused visibly, not sure what he should say. Barry didn't want his brother to believe that he got his ass kicked by some kids, even though that is what _really_ happen. The longer Barry didn't respond, the bigger Daniel's eyes widened and his curiosity grew.

"Barry got into a fight at school." Nora informed the young blonde, who's face swiftly changed into an expression of shock. After Nora said it, Barry looked up at her with a surprised face, thinking that his mother betrayed him.

"And guess what?" Nora said loudly, catching Daniel out of his stupor. "Your big brother was strong enough to beat up TWO boys." Nora told the 4-year-old, who believed her words instantly.

Before Daniel turned back to Barry, his older brother looked up at Nora and smiled appreciatively. The mother of the two took a few steps back and watched the two brothers from the door, one hand holding the door frame, and the other gently laying by her side.

"Wow, Barry! You must be like _super_ strong!" Daniel gaped loudly, reaching up to pull himself up on the chair next to Barry. The older brother chuckled and nodded his head, as if he was agreeing with what his brother had said.

"Yeah, look at my muscles!" Barry said proudly, simultaneously pulling up his shirt sleeve and flexing his right arm, even though there was basically nothing there. However, it was enough for Daniel to wrap his tiny hands around and marvel at how much bigger Barry's arm was compared to his own.

After a few minutes of examining Barry's muscles, Daniel sat down in the chair with a bummed out expression written across his face. His body was slouched forward and his arms weakly hanging by his sides. Barry noticed and raised his eyebrows, quickly reaching around his brother's shoulder and pulling Daniel closer.

"What's wrong, Danny?" Barry asked Daniel, concern lacing his voice. Daniel looked up at Barry and his lips curved into a frown, worrying Barry.

"I want to be strong like you… Like _now._ " Daniel pouted childishly. As he said it, Daniel clumsily threw his arms into the arm and let them drop back to his sides, as if he was demonstrating what little strength he had. Barry smiled down at his brother and tightened his arms around Daniel's shoulder, a rush of warmth spreading between them.

"There's no rush, Danny. I'll always be here to protect you, no matter what. That's what big brothers are for."

* * *

 **Present – 12 March 2016 (20 minutes before Barry arrived)**

"The ambulance will be arriving shortly to take you to the hospital. Other than that, don't try and move your arm much, because it _will_ hurt." The nurse warned Daniel, who nodded blankly in reply. The nurse sighed and left the room, accidentally bumping into a wheel chair clad man entering the room.

"There will be no need for an ambulance. His private doctor is on her way." Dr. Wells informed the nurse, who apologized to Harrison and scurried off to cancel the ambulance. Dr. Wells wheeled into the nurse's room and caught sight of Daniel, who was absentmindedly starring at the wall.

"Daniel." Dr. Wells called out for this adopted son, who quickly snapped out of his daydreaming with a startled expression on his face. When Daniel caught sight of Dr. Wells, he frowned and looked down at his lap.

"Hey…" Daniel trailed off, not sure what to say. He wasn't sure how Harrison was going to react to the entire situation, and he hadn't even been sure that his adoptive dad was even going to come.

"Are you alright?" Harrison asked Daniel, obvious concern in his voice. As he asked, Harrison wheeled over to Daniel and placed a hand on his son's leg, in an attempt to comfort him. The blonde's lips curved upwardly slightly, and he looked up at Dr. Wells.

"Apart from my broken arm, I'm doing alright." Daniel sighed loudly, both of his clear blue eyes shifting downwards to look at the triangular collar and cuff sling that they placed on him. He could feel the bones in his shoulder shifting around unnaturally, as they had been doing ever since they had broken in the first place.

Daniel knew that the constant shifting wasn't normal, seeing as he had broken a few other bones in his body while growing up, and he guessed that it either had to do with his meta-human ability, or the girl that had attacked him savagely. He was leaning primarily toward it being from his ability, because the pain was dulling down considerably fast.

"Still mentally recovering from getting man-handled by a girl, though." Daniel chuckled softly, prompting Harrison Wells to crack a smile. The older man lifted his right hand to adjust his glasses, swiftly taking them off of his face and placing them down on the table next to the bed.

"That's actually one thing I wanted to talk to you abou-" Harrison was promptly interrupted by Caitlin Snow entering the room in a hurry, all of her medical equipment tightly compacted in a medium sized medical bag with snowflakes scattered on it.

"Sorry I'm late, Dr. Wells! The school security had to make sure that I didn't have any weapons in the bag, an-" The tall brunette stopped speaking when she made eye contact with Dr. Wells, and his intense glare shut her up.

"It's fine, Dr. Snow. As long as you are here _now_." Harrison told her, waving her over to Daniel. Caitlin kindly obliged and approached the teenager, quickly sitting down next to the blond and beginning to work on him.

The next few minutes were filled with Caitlin asking Daniel some questions about the incident, and about what the other nurse did so far. By the last minute, Caitlin had already removed all that the nurse had done and replaced it with a more advanced and comfortable sling that fit perfectly on his arm. Much to Daniel's dismay, she also noticed that Daniel's shoulder was pulsating strangely, and she could see bones physically moving around just enough to push the skin up. Caitlin told Dr. Wells, who then turned to look at the shoulder with interest.

"This is strange… It's almost like the bones are _mending_ themselves…" Dr. Wells said aloud, a look of astonishment flashing across his face. He'd seen healing similar to this with Barry, but even this healing was faster then Barry's.

Daniel sat nervously in his seat, and he began to sweat from his forehead. Surely Harrison would realize that this strange ability was formed because Daniel was a meta-human. However, Daniel realized, Harrison would only be able to realize that it was a meta-human ability if he'd been close to a meta-human before, or seen one in action.

Strange…

Daniel would have delved further into the thought, but he felt Dr. Well's attentive hand touch his knee, and Daniel snapped up, now staring directly into his adoptive father's dark eyes.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Harrison's voice was calm and collected, but it still sent chills down Daniel's spine. He knew what _that_ meant. It was the type of tone that Harrison would put on when he already knew the answer to the question, but wanted to see if you're going to lie to him.

The room fell silent for a few seconds, with everyone in the room falling silent. Caitlin awkwardly shifted his medical equipment around in her bag, although she wasn't putting any of them in any particular order. After a few moments, Daniel looked away from Harrison and cleared his throat.

"I… I-"

Suddenly, the door to the room was violently ripped from its hinges, and was flung deep into the school corridor. It was evident that the flying door impacted something, because an extremely loud explosive sound filled the school, which sent dozens of teenagers screaming and running for cover.

At the door, Alex Merkel stood tall, her petite form ruined by the blood stains that were littered all across her shirt and skirt. The fresh scarlet liquid dripped from her clothing easily, creating a small puddle underneath her.

" _There_ you are…"

Daniel's face twisted into a combination of shock and horror. Did she really want to _kill_ him? Seeing the blood and the terrifying look that Alex was giving him, he was almost positive that the answer was yes.

Caitlin stood frozen to the spot, both of her chocolate brown eyes instantly latching onto the bloodied girl at the entrance. The brunet's eyes jumped from the girl, to the 50-pound door that she had just thrown across the hallway as if it was a piece of paper.

Caitlin had dealt with a small amount of meta-humans. Clyde Mardon and Kyle Nimbus. Both times, the meta-human had incredible abilities; abilities that shocked her whenever she thought about them. The ability to control the weather and the ability to become poisonous gas…

And now, this girl appeared to have the ability of super strength. However, Caitlin concluded that she'd only seen the surface of the young girl's power, and that she could possibly have limitless strength within her body.

"I don't know why you're so angry… But please calm down…" Dr. Wells pleaded cautiously, putting one of his hands out in front of him as if to push her back…

"I am perfectly calm, Professor Wells." Alex said sweetly; as if they couldn't see the blood streaming off of her clothing. After she spoke, the meta-human began to walk towards Daniel quickly; both of her fists clenching together…

Daniel's heart beat increased suddenly, as if he was realizing the situation ahead of him… He could either let himself get killed and not reveal his meta-human ability, try and get past her with his own strength, or he could attempt to push her back with his telekinesis.

As she got closer, it became apparent that the first two options wouldn't work. Each step that she took tore apart the ground underneath her, cracking tiles and the floor underneath them. Daniel took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He hadn't explored the limits of his powers yet, and he'd only had time to lift up some pencils and a cup the night prior. This move was a long shot, but Daniel put his only free arm in front of his body instinctively, a desperate expression crossing his face…

Fortunately, he didn't have to do anything.

A muscular arm reached into the room from the hallway and grabbed Alex's shirt, stopping her in her movement… Before Alex could turn around, she had been pulled out of the room and thrown to the opposite wall of the hallway. When she made contact with the wall, the wall crumbled from the force of the impact, sending shock waves throughout the school.

"Huh?"

The three occupants of the room froze when they saw a large muscular man step into the room. The man was wearing an all red outfit, that had golden boots and gloves that reached all the way up his arm. The thing that stood out the most was the golden lightning bolt on the front of the costume, along with the white and gold cape that looked like it was made of the finest material known the man.

Everyone stood on edge, with Daniel's hand still outstretched. Dr. Wells looked like he was ready to jump up at a moment's notice, and Caitlin had her hand in her medical bag, clutching onto a small surgical knife.

"Dr. Wells, Mr. Allen, you need to get out of here. I can only hold this form for a short time." The man warned them, before turning around and walking over to the rubble that had fallen on Alex.

Caitlin was the first to take initiative, her mind quickly clearing after the strange event. She quickly grabbed Dr. Wells' wheelchair handle and swiftly wheeled him out of the room, which was followed by Daniel running after them.

"You know that guy?!" Caitlin asked Daniel as we made out escape, her voice shrouded in panic. However, Daniel was as bewildered as Caitlin was, and so he decided to save his breath and keep going. Of course Daniel didn't know him…

As they ran, they could see that the school had been torn apart from the inside. Chunks of the wall and the floor were everywhere, and the lights were flickering on and off. The school was mostly abandoned by now, and they were running through empty corridors. It wasn't long before they reached a split.

"Which way do we go?!" Caitlin snapped at Daniel, turning to him immediately. Without hesitation, Daniel pointed out the way to go, and they turned to the corridor, preparing to go through it.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case…

The entire corridor collapsed, as two figures came crashing down through the ceiling. Dust exploded from the point of impact, blocking out the image of the two figures fighting inside of the dust.

All three of the escapees looked at each other for a split second, and they ran into the corridor that hadn't been completely destroyed…

* * *

He hadn't expected the day to turn out so sour. He was supposed to go to school, not learn anything, and then go off and hang out with his best friend. However, it was the appearance of one insane meta-human, with the power of super strength, that ruined the day completely.

The extremely muscular figure stood up within the rubble of the collapsed room, the dust disabling his ability to see clearly. He couldn't see his opponent at all, and he needed to finish this quickly. His power would only last a few more minutes before it tired him out _completely_.

It only took a few more seconds for Alex Merkel to make her sudden appearance…

From the corner of his eye, the man could see something coming at him at high speeds. Instinctively, he brought both of his arms up swiftly, and successfully blocking the object. However, instead of it being a fist, like he had expected it to be, the object shattered on impact, sending dust outwards.

A rock?

A sharp pain spread through his entire right side, forcing him to gasp in pain. She had tricked him with a fake attack. The man span around and attempted to backhand the nimble girl, failing miserably. Unlike the agile girl that he was fighting, he had little to no combat skills, and was completely relying on basic fighting knowledge.

Alex Merkel on the other hand as a martial artist, and she was well verse in several forms of fighting techniques. If it wasn't for his incredible endurance, the muscular meta-human knew that he'd probably be down for the count.

The sound of rocks shifting behind him caused the meta-human's eyes to narrow.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice."

The man heard the whistling of the rock in the air, and he didn't even need to turn around to know it was coming. He ducked underneath the rock, and saw it soaring through the sky and explode on the wall opposite him. Next, he saw Alex coming at him from the front, both of her fists balled.

" _Get out of my way_!" Alex's gargled voice exploded from her throat as she approached the man. When she got close enough, Alex struck out with her right arm, aiming to punch him right in the face. Unfortunately for her, the man had anticipated this.

By lifting his left arm up to his face, he easily blocked the attack and grinned widely when he saw his counter attack opportunity. The muscular man brought his right leg up extremely quickly, successfully kicking Alex directly in her torso.

The blow was heavy enough to send the school girl flying through the wall next to them and into the soccer field of the school.

The man followed the girl swiftly, letting his body float through the whole that her body created while bursting through the wall. She was lying flat on the ground, seemingly unconscious from the blow that the man had given her…

Said figure floated silently above her limp body, eyeing the girl with an almost irritated expression on his face. He hadn't seen how much people that she had hurt on the way to Daniel, but he was sure that at least a few people were dead, considering the amount of blood that was coating her clothing.

Just the fact that the deranged girl had taken a life that didn't belong to her made the meta-human's blood boil. In his opinion, she didn't deserve to live, but it wasn't _his_ choice. If he killed her now it would tarnish his superhero reputation and he had grown up knowing that there were always two sides to a story...

In Fawcett City, he had gained a good reputation with the people living there. They had started to label him as the superhero, Captain Marvel. Marvel wasn't sure how much he actually liked that name, but it wasn't like he had a better name, yet.

This wasn't the first time that Captain Marvel had been in Central City. He had actually started his superhero career in Central City, but his success was massively overshadowed by the Flash. Because of that, Marvel had decided to move his superhero activities down to Fawcett, which wasn't too far from Central City and her twin city, Keystone City.

Fawcett City had a higher crime rate then Central City but Captain Marvel found it much easier to protect. The meta-human attacks were much less common then Central City, so all he had to do was stop robberies and large scale crimes once in a while.

So far, he hadn't had anything like _this_. Marvel looked down just in time to see Alex standing up and staring up at him. The emotionless look in her eye sent chills _running_ down his spine. Marvel clenched his fist and looked down at her with equal ferocity…

His power was running out and he could tell. Steam was beginning to seep out of his muscles and he was quickly tiring out. He only had a minute at maximum to finish her off or hold her off until Special Ops arrived, or at least the Flash…

Marvel dropped from the sky at high speeds, his massive frame crashing down opposite the killer meta-human that was watching him with intensity. Marvel put one hand in front of his body and taunted her forward with a convincing grin on his face.

"Come at me…"

 **Barry**

A few seconds after Barry had arrived on the scene did the moment strike for him to save someone. A piercing scream filled the air and Barry had no doubt that it was from a young child. Barry turned into the direction of the screaming and saw a large piece of the school building break off and descend towards the screaming girl.

Without second thought, Barry dashed across the field at speeds rivaling a bullet; within moment he had reached the girl and removed her from the path of the falling cement block. Barry saw the shocked look on the girl's face for a split second before he sped away into the abandoned school.

As Barry ran, he felt the heels of his shoes wearing out quickly and the hinges of his clothes begin to spark because of the yellow lightning bouncing across his body. He hadn't worn his suit... Barry instantly regretted the decision, even _if_ the situation wasn't predicted.

However, every second mattered, and in the several seconds that it took Barry to run back to STAR Labs, it could cost someone their life… Barry gritted his teeth and turned back in the direction of the school, speeding off with lightning trailer behind him.

As Barry ran through the school at unimaginable speeds, he noticed the absolute emptiness through the school, _not_ including the pure destruction that was evident in every inch of the school that Barry ran past. Rubble and broken pieces of cement were scattered, along with crushed bodies and trapped students…

Barry was trying his hardest to push the screams and images out of his head for the meanwhile. He _needed_ to find Daniel and make sure that he was safe. Little did he know, the whole event was caused because of the blonde haired telekinetic…

"HELP! We're trapped!"

Barry skidded to a stop when the screaming finally reached him, and he began to frantically searched for the source of the voice. No matter how much he tried to push it away, the sound of suffering people got to him every time; forcing him to react.

"Where are you?!" Barry yelled back as loud as he could, vibrating his throat so that his voice was completely unrecognizable.

"We-… We're over here!" A chorus of voices exploded from a room to the right of the speedster. Barry turned to the voices and saw, true to what the voices had been saying, the people were trapped. A large piece of the ceiling had fallen in front of the door and completely blocked off their exit.

Fortunately for Barry, they were still in the room and they couldn't see him standing in the hallway with lightning bouncing around his body and burning his clothes. In a flash, Barry dismantled the barricade piece by piece and opened the door for the students to escape.

Seconds after the door had been opened, the students found themselves blinded by an extreme light, before suddenly finding themselves outside of the Central City High, surrounded by ambulances.

"It's the Flash!"

"He's so _fast!_ "

Those were the things that Barry could hear people screaming from behind him as he zoomed back into the school at incredible speeds. What could have caused such destruction? Was it a meta-human attack?

Barry didn't have much time to think about that, though, as more screaming and crying erupted from elsewhere in the school. Barry continued to speed around the school, and he didn't stop until _everyone_ was removed from the school.

As Barry sped away from the scene, he could hear everyone cheering loudly for him, but it only made his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. He hadn't found Daniel inside of the school…

Barry sped into the Cortex at high speeds, grabbing his Flash suit and changing into it as fast as he could, before speeding back to the school. While he hoped that Daniel was safe, he still needed to stop the cause of the disaster…

The Flash stopped running when he entered the football field, catching sight of the completely destroyed field, and the two people that he deemed responsible for the destruction…

The Flash clenched his fists tightly, the yellow lightning from the speed force circling him and dancing across his body. From what it looked like, the male meta-human was about to kill a young school girl and had a deadly growl on his face.

"I've found the person that did all of this, Cisco. I'm taking him in."

" _Barry, that guy is-"_

Cisco's voice was shut off by lightning exploding from the sky above and violently colliding with the muscular man. Barry's eyes widened behind his cowl as he watched in slow motion as the man reached his hand forward and grabbed the girl, before the lightning intensified and struck twice in the same spot, blinding the speedster temporarily and sending him sprawling by the shock wave…

The sound of his comms malfunctioning brought Barry back to attention. His vision was quickly coming back, and as soon as it fully recovered, the speedster struggled to his feet. The Flash's eyes widened considerably when he saw two kids lying unconscious on the floor.

"A kid?!"

 **S.T.A.R. Labs**

Daniel sat silently in an empty room. He could almost swear that he was going to scratch his arm completely off if someone didn't come inside and give him answers.

When they'd arrived at S.T.A.R Labs, Harrison stuck Daniel in his office in the CORTEX with promises that he would answer any of Daniel's questions later. It felt like hours by now and Daniel was becoming increasingly irritated.

In the meantime, Daniel had been calling around people that he knew was inside of the school on the day. He'd first tried to get in contact with Billy but his phone just continued to go off. That definitely wasn't like him.

Barry was the next person that Daniel called, and the CSI's phone didn't pick up either. Daniel shot him a text to see if he was okay and was waiting for a reply. That was a half an hour ago…

While he waited, Daniel thought about the events that had transpired. He wasn't confused in the slightest, however. He understood the situation perfectly, and he was sure it was because his super intelligence... Well that and a little research that he did on his phone.

Alex Merkel's father, Peter Merkel, had been one of the people that were killed when the Particle Accelerator exploded. Peter Merkel was in Iron Heights Prison at the time of the explosion and he was found dead in his cell the same night.

Peter Merkel was known as the Rag Doll killer and was the leader of a small cult back before he was caught during one of his murders. He was known as the Rag Doll because he used to dress up as a Doll, along with his cult, during their crimes.

From the argument between Daniel and Alex, Daniel gathered that Alex held him accountable for her father's death, despite the fact that Daniel wasn't involved at all. She was blinded by the theories that Daniel had tampered with the mechanics.

"…"

Daniel turned back on his phone and decided that he would find out the rest from social media. The first thing that he found when searching almost made his heart stop in his chest.

 **Flash Captures Meta Human Male That Is Suspected To Be The Cause Of The Disaster**

"Male?" Daniel's heart beat beating considerably faster then normally as he raced through the possibilities. In the end, he came to the conclusion that the Flash had taken in the large muscular man that had _saved_ them and somehow let Alex free.

"Crap."

Daniel jumped up from his seat and ran towards the door, swiftly reaching for the door handle and attempting to open the door. He quickly learned that the door was locked, but it didn't take him much effort to slam on the door until someone finally opened it.

" _Daniel,_ I said _stay_ in the room."

A very annoyed Dr. Well's had opened the door and was now staring down at his adopted son, who stared back with an equally annoyed expression on his face. However, after a few seconds, Harrison noticed the twinkle of fear that was also intertwined in Daniel's eyes.

"Talk."

 **Deeper in STAR Labs**

"You got the wrong person." Caitlin told Barry flatly, a flurry of emotions flashing on her face as she stared at the containment area where Barry had placed the boy that Barry had deemed the cause of the destruction.

"I told you, idiot!" Billy shouted out to Barry through the unbreakable glass. The clear fury that was behind Billy's blue eyes could be clearly seen and his whole face was contorted into an enraged grimace.

What an idiot he had been. Thinking that he could save the school from destruction, Billy decided to use his abilities and it all backfired. He had planned to knock out the girl in the time that he had in his 'enhanced' form, but she had been stronger then he anticipated.

Unfortunately for Billy, the Flash had arrived the second that it looked like _he_ was the bad guy, and it happened to be when his enhanced form ran out of energy. The Flash took him to his prison cell and put Alex in the hospital, not realizing that she was the entire cause of the event.

Billy had tried to tell The Flash that he got the wrong person but Barry hadn't listened to him, and just locked him away with no food and no water. After all the effort that he put in to make sure everyone was safe, he didn't even know what would happen to any of them…

"Then who did it?" Barry asked Caitlin, the obvious weight of his mistake finally raining down on him. He'd assumed that this kid was the cause of accident and had locked him up after seeing him transform from a super muscular man into a kid. However, from what Caitlin was telling him…

"This kid is the _good_ guy..." Caitlin told Barry quickly as she headed towards the control panels. She'd explained to Barry about the muscular meta-human that saved them and Barry had told her about the same meta-human turning into the kid that he had captured.

Barry repeatedly apologized to Billy as Caitlin unlocked the futuristic meta-human prison and let Billy free. When he was finally free, the black haired teen tightened his fists and locked his eyes with Barry's. He _really_ wanted to do was sucker punch Barry in the face but he thought about it and took a deep breath.

"You're the Flash?" Billy asked quietly, releasing his clenched fists and looking down at his feet. Barry took a sigh of relief and turned back to Caitlin. Caitlin took that as a sign to go and call Dr. Wells down to the room.

"And you are?" Barry asked the short kid in anticipation, leaning more towards wanting to know Billy's superhero name. Billy was about to open his mouth to reply, when suddenly Cisco came running into the room, almost crashing into the walls.

"NO WAY!" Cisco squealed loudly, before stopping to catch his breath. Barry and Billy stopped to turn and look at the exhausted man, both with a quizzical look on their face.

"Cisco?" Both of the boys asked simultaneously. Barry raised his eyebrows and looked at Cisco and then back at Billy, confusion setting into his amethyst eyes.

"You guys know each other?" Barry asked Cisco, who had finally recovered from all of the running that he was doing. It was finally clear to see that Cisco was grinning ear to ear, and the excitement was beaming off of him.

"Yeah, he works with my best friend's dad at STAR Labs…" Billy told Barry slowly, as if the pieces were finally piecing together. Were they at STAR Labs? Was STAR Labs a meta-human prison? Why was The Flash working with STAR Labs?

"Yeah, but that's not important right now!" Cisco cut off Barry before he could even _think_ about replying. Cisco threw his arms out and grabbed Billy's arms, startling the teenager.

" _You're_ Captain Marvel? _The_ Captain Marvel of Fawcett city?" Cisco goggled with wide eyes and an even wider grin. "The Prince of Thunder?!" Cisco exclaimed in fascination, making Billy's face spread into a proud toothy grin.

"At least _someone_ recognizes me."

"Oh my gosh, how could I _not_!?"

"Excuse me, I'm gonna have to interrupt your fangirling Cisco. Who is Captain Marvel?"

"Only the coolest super her-" Cisco stopped mid-sentence and turned to face Barry, and his excitement fell into embarrassment when he saw Barry's amused and slightly disappointed face.

"He's _one_ of the coolest super heroes out there, apart from you and Batman of course…" Cisco cleared his throat and corrected what he was saying, bringing a smile to Barry's amused face.

"So you're a superhero that goes by the name, Captain Marvel?" Barry asked Billy, who grinned and took a few steps back.

"That's what the citizens of Fawcett City call me. Not sure if I like the name yet, though." Billy told Barry, who sighed in recognition. When they had started calling him the Red Streak, Barry didn't like it either. Good thing Iris decided to change his name on her blog.

"Do I really have to be here to put you guys back in check?" Caitlin asked, causing all attention to fall back on her. The brunette was leaning on the door of the entrance with a more urgent expression spread across her face.

"The meta-human girl that was going after Daniel was taken from her hospital room a few minutes ago." Caitlin informed all of them, showing them live news from Central City Hospital.

"Taken by who?" Barry asked Caitlin as he watched the video, seeing the amount of death that had been caused by whoever had come in and retrieved her. Dozens and dozens of dead doctors and nurses lay in the corridors of the hospital.

As if to answer the question, the person that had been recording the event turned the camera to themselves, revealing a panicked looking woman.

" _T…They looked like d-dolls… All of them…"_

Everyone in the room looked at each other with confused and shocked expressions, trying to figure out mentally who they were and why they wanted Alex. Before they could voice their opinions, however, Caitlin decided to speak.

"They're already gone. Whatever this is, we can figure it out later. Right now, Dr. Wells wants you two to safely bring Daniel back to his house and make sure everything is safe and sound." Caitlin told Barry and Cisco, who nodded their heads in understand. However, Billy's eyes widened as he realized something.

"Cisco, Daniel's here?" Billy asked Cisco quickly, the concern for his friend that he tried to push down finally emerging again. Cisco turned to Billy and sighed deeply.

"Yeah, he's upstairs with Dr. Wells."

"Can I go and see him?"

"No can do."

"Why not? I want to see if he's okay!"

"Because it would lead to a lot of questions." Barry answered Billy for Cisco, causing all of the attention to fall on Barry. "Daniel doesn't know that I'm the Flash."

"Well why not?" Billy asked with an irritated expression on his face. He was more annoyed that they wouldn't let him go and see his best friend more than the fact that Daniel didn't know that Barry was the Flash.

"Daniel knowing my secret would put him in danger. I don't want that for him." Barry told Billy with a serious expression on his face… From that alone, Billy knew that Barry was serious. But then why could he feel a simmer of doubt in Barry's words?

"So let me get this straight, so no one can know that I was here?" Billy asked the group, simultaneous bringing his fingers up to his nose and pinching his nose bridge. He hated lying to his friends, and he could tell that this would complicate things.

"Just forget everything that happened today. After you defeated the Doll Queen as Captain Marvel the Thunder Prince, you went home and had a nice nap." Cisco suggested cheerfully, gaining everyone's raised eyebrows.

"What? I gave her a supervillain name…"

"You seriously need to work on those names, Cisco"

"Before I go, I have one more question…" Billy spoke quickly, drawing all of their attention. When they turned back to him, Billy had a serious expression painted across his face.

"I need your word that you will never give tell anyone my secret. Only the people that I choose to tell." Billy told the group, who all nodded immediately. Billy breathed a sigh of relief and offered Barry his hand.

"My name is William Batson, but you can call me Billy. Apart from the whole locking me up thing, it was nice meeting you Barry." Billy introduced himself formally to Barry. The speedster took the handshake and firmly shook it back, earning a small smile from Billy.

"It was nice meeting you too. I'll be seeing you around." Barry replied casually, grinning as he disconnected the hand shake. He quickly went into his pocket and pulled out a STAR Labs card with his details on it, handing it to Billy.

"If you ever need any help over in Fawcett City, just give me a call. Who knows, maybe we'll have to face an evil alien warlord some day!" Barry said happily as he handed Billy the card. Billy took it and quickly pocketed it, making sure that it was in a pocket that couldn't be pick pocketed.

"Sorry to break this little Justice Squad up but we need to be going." Cisco suggested slowly. As he did, the shorter man pointed out towards the door with his thumbs and Barry nodded. Just like that, Barry and Cisco left Billy.

"I guess you're showing me the way out?" Billy asked Caitlin as he turned to face her, both of his shimmering blue eyes latching onto her own hazel eyes. The brunette nodded and turned her back to Billy and began to walk through the circular hallway, prompting the teen to follow.

They walked in silence most of the way out, and soon enough they reached the exit. Caitlin opened the door wide enough for Billy to pass through and gestured for him to leave.

"You're free to go now. Sorry about all of the hassle earlier." Caitlin chuckled nervously, the obvious embarrassment from Barry's mistake weighing down on her. If she had only _somehow_ contacted Barry and told him about the attacker, then there wouldn't be an un-needed third party that knows that Barry is the Flash…

"It's fine. As long as Mr. Speedster pants doesn't mistake me for the villain and lock me up again, I should be alright." Billy told Caitlin with a smile, settling down her unsettled emotions.

"But I do have a question…"

Caitlin looked up at Billy and weakly smiled back at him. She knew that it was going to come out one way or another, but she had just wished that Barry or Cisco would have been there when Billy asked…

"Is this… The place where you guys were keeping me… Is it a meta-human prison?" Billy asked quietly, speaking low enough so that only him and Caitlin could hear. Caitlin gulped and began to rub her sweaty palms nervously.

What was she supposed to say? Tell him that they were illegal holding a meta-human in the pipeline and that they planned to hold more if any went out of line? Even if it _was_ for the protection of Central City, she knew that if someone found out about their little prison they could wind up in jail, or worst…

Before Caitlin could think of a reasonable answer, Billy turned his back to her and began to walk off with his hands in his pockets. Caitlin went slightly red, realizing that he probably noticed her slight agitation and drew on his own conclusions.

"I'll see you around." Billy called out to Caitlin loudly. He didn't make a single sound until he heard the sound of the door closing behind him, and the faint sound of a lock clicking into place…

"Hm… A team…" Billy chuckled under his breath, casually rustling his messy black hair around his head and out his eyes. He'd just met the Flash and escaped a high-tech prison in the same day! This had to be the best day ever!

 **Harrison Well's House – Midnight**

This had to be the worst day ever…

Daniel sat silently in the living room, staring obnoxiously into empty space. The snoring that was emanating around the room would have normally driven him over the edge, but Daniel's attention was focused on the silver spoon that he was holding in his right hand.

His left arm was still in a sling, even though it was already fully healed. He wouldn't let anyone know that yet, because that would make it obvious that he was a meta-human.

If Cisco and Barry stopped snoring, then maybe Daniel would be able to focus completely on the task he had at hand. The blonde stared down at the spoon with intensity, both of his blue eyes concentrated as the metal bended at his whim…

The spoon bended and contorted until it was as flat as paper. Almost as quickly as it flattened out, the flat metal began to stretch out horizontally in both directions, expanding and thinning out until it reached its thinnest point, becoming a square.

"Weak..."

Daniel put his hand out flatly and held the thin square on his palm. This wasn't good enough. He could already feel his head beginning to spin in rotation, and it was making him nauseous. Daniel just held the square object in his hand for a few moments, closing his eyes and relaxing.

"3… 2… 1…"

Daniel silently breathed out as he tried to calm his head. After a few more seconds, the nauseous feeling rolled away and Daniel opened his eyes calmly, not noticing that his iris had turned into a murky translucent white.

"So it works like a muscle…" Daniel realized slowly, fixating his translucent eyes on the thin metal square. As he spoke, the metal sheet rose from his hand and floated unsupported and the uncomfortable feeling that Daniel was experiencing before was gone.

"The more I use it, the stronger the Telekinesis becomes." Daniel told himself silently. However, that wasn't it worked for all of his powers, he noticed. The night Daniel discovered his ability to control things with his mind, he also began to piece together why his memory and intelligence had increased dramatically.

The Particle Accelerator didn't just give him the power of Telekinesis. Rather, it somehow increased his mental prowess and gave him psychic abilities. Whether Telekinesis was the only physic ability he was granted was unknown to him… For now.

Tomorrow he decided that he would try and figure out the current limits of his intelligence and memory, along with his Telekinesis. And if possible, Daniel would discover if he had any other abilities.

However, first and foremost, he was going to go to S.T.A.R Labs to figure out why the Particle Accelerator gave him his abilities. Harrison had told him that all Metahumans have different abilities, depending on their current situation when they were struck by the Dark Matter. That was the explanation that Harrison had used when Daniel asked why Metahumans came into existence and why they all had different abilities.

From what Daniel gathered, the lightning striking Daniel and Barry gave Daniel his abilities. However, Daniel wasn't an idiot. The Dark matter infused lightning must have done _something_ to Barry. Unfortunately, whenever he asked his step-dad about Barry being a meta-human he was always given the 'don't be absurd' look. And the 'wouldn't that make you a meta-human too' glare.

After several attempts of trying to get him to admit that Barry was a meta-human, he decided to ask Barry himself and considered the idea that _maybe_ his wheel chaired guardian didn't know about Barry. However, asking Barry proved to be even more awkward then he anticipated…

It couldn't have been more awkward then the car ride back to the house, though. The very minimal communication between Barry and Daniel caused a strange tension. Daniel could swear that the only thing he said to Barry was a quick 'hi' and a sharp reply when Barry tried to start a conversation…

It wasn't that Daniel _didn't_ want to fix the problem, it was that _he_ couldn't fix it. Only Barry could fix it. All he needed to do was tell Daniel whatever secret the STAR Labs crew was keeping from him. It couldn't simply be that Barry was a meta-human, though. According to what he heard when he stumbled into their conversation, it was something that would cause all sorts of meta-humans to hunt Barry down if it spread…

Maybe they were building a device to strip metas of their abilities? Then why would the secret specifically be Barry's? It didn't make _sense_. The only thing that made sense to Daniel was if Barry was somehow opposing the dangerous meta-humans secretly. In that case, Daniel telling someone would put them both in danger.

However, Daniel realized that no one had trust that he could hold a secret…

Daniel turned his head and looked at Barry and Cisco sleeping peacefully on the couch, his iris still murky white as the metal square span at incredible speeds above Daniel's head. He was going to give Barry one more chance to tell him or he was going to find out on his own…

Daniel clenched his fist tightly and willed the metal square to split into four separated sharp edges. He turned his head to face the dart board and focused on it. Immediately, the sharp edges sped through the air and into the dart board, all four hitting the bulls eye with perfect accuracy.

The nauseating feeling returned quickly and Daniel gagged. He'd have to get used to that…

Daniel went to the bathroom and washed out his mouth, before going to his room for some well needed sleep. For the entire time, he didn't notice the pair of glowing red eyes watching everything from outside of the house…


	5. Secret

**A Different Kind of Story**

 **Chapter 5** : Secret

" _What powers, you ask? I dunno, how 'bout the power of flight? That do anything for ya? That's levitation, Holmes. How 'bout the power to kill a yak, from 200 yards away… with mind bullets! That's telekinesis, Kyle!" –_ **Jack Black (Of Tenacious D)**

* * *

"Thanks for breakfast, Dad…"

Daniel silently stood up in the pin-drop silent living room; casually picking up the empty breakfast dish that he had just devoured and brought it over to the kitchen sink. As usual, he'd have the dishes. Daniel didn't want Dr. Well's to struggle with the dishes, especially with his predicament…

The sound of Dr. Wells' wheelchair wheeling into the room filled up the empty void of sound in the room. Daniel looked up and watched as Harrison wheeled into the room with an exhausted expression on his face and a cup of orange juice in his free hand.

Daniel turned on the hot water and pretended not to watch as Harrison pulled up to the fireplace area near the open glass ceiling. Every few seconds, the teenager would glance up to watch his father, making sure he was alright, and didn't somehow tilt into the fire. Fortunately, Harrison wasn't facing his direction and didn't notice his concern.

Not many people realized it, but Daniel was also greatly affected by Harrison being immobilized by the Particle Accelerator… Seeing his father confined to such a limited way of life made Daniel's heart drop. Daniel could clearly remember the days before he went in coma, when Harrison would joyfully go on long runs and hour-long strolls…

It _hurt_ …

It hurt Daniel watch someone that he loved suffer, especially when it was someone that was so close to him. Unlike before, Harrison was now either always at S.T.A.R Labs from the early morning to the latest hours of the night, or he was busy doing some other business stuff that Daniel didn't know about.

"Are you alright, Daniel?"

Harrison's voice easily snapped Daniel out of his stupor; bringing him back to reality in a second. The blonde's bright blue eyes widened and his cheeks became flustered, when he realized that Harrison was staring directly into his direction.

"Oh, sorry about that… I was just thinking about something." Daniel replied quietly, avoiding eye contact with Harrison as much as possible. He couldn't tell Harrison that he was worried about him… Knowing the scientist as much as Daniel did, the teen knew that Dr. Wells hated for other to worry about his current problems, especially if it was Daniel.

"Are you sure that you're alright? You've been acting strange for the past few days." Dr. Wells replied casually, his calculating brown eyes watching Daniel carefully. The teenager turned his head back down to the dishes and continued to wash them.

Daniel knew that it was a matter of time before Harrison would realize that the whole S.T.A.R Labs secret thing was bothering Daniel. The fifteen-year-old had never been particularly good at hiding his emotions, especially from Harrison.

"I'm fine, I promise." Daniel replied silently, the sound of the dishes and the water almost completely drowning out his voice.

Harrison's eyes didn't move from his son, however, and after a few moments of stiff silence, the scientist sighed loudly; lowering his arm and placing his cup of orange juice on the table next to the fire place.

"If there's one thing I know from the 10 years I've been taking care of you, is that you're a terrible liar." Harrison said flatly, crossing his arms and looking directly at Daniel's flustered face.

"I'm not lyi-"

"Yes, Daniel, you are." Harrison interrupted Daniel's weaker voice easily, prompting Daniel to turn strawberry red and look away from Harrison's general direction.

The room fell into a deadly silence as Harrison waited for Daniel to crack. The teenager stared off into the far wall and his mind reeled through what he was going to say. He _knew_ that Harrison wasn't going to start speaking until Daniel gave him what he thought was good enough to be considered true…

Although Harrison's outward appearance was silent and patient, his mind was bobbling around. There were multiple things that he knew Daniel was hiding from him, but this specific secret was something that Harrison was _certain_ Daniel would willingly tell him…

After a few seconds, Harrison found himself trying to mentally _will_ Daniel to admit the secret. To admit to Harrison that he was a meta-human… He'd need someone to comfort him now that he found out he was a meta-human, right? Who else would be better than his own father? After all, Barry told Joe before anyone else…

"It's just…" Daniel took a deep breath and turned back to face Harrison, a calm expression clearly on his face. "I know you guys are hiding something from me at STAR Labs… I just want to know what it is and why it's so important to you guys..."

 _Disappointing._

Harrison released the breath that he didn't realize he was holding. It wasn't what he had been expecting but after few moments of silence, Harry looked up at Daniel with the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

"You know that I love you right?" Harrison said offhandedly, keeping his chocolate brown eyes locked with Daniel's own sky blue eyes. Harrison's words sat in the air thickly, allowing Daniel to take it all in slowly.

He knew _exactly_ where Harrison was going with this…

"Yeah I know, bu-"

"Have I _ever_ kept a secret from you that would hurt you?" Harrison asked Daniel softly, the feeling behind the words clearly backing them up. Daniel tried to bring himself to speak opposing Harrison's point, but he knew that it was true.

"No…" Daniel replied quietly, keeping his crystal blue eyes on the floor as Harrison used his control to wheel himself over to Daniel. The teenager fiddled with his hands and the hem of his shirt nervously. Harrison stopped a few feet from Daniel and sighed as he looked up at the young Allen.

"I need your promise that you won't try and figure this all out." Harrison told Daniel firmly, just as he reached up with his right hand and gripped Daniel's arm tenderly. Daniel flinched at the touch of Harrison's hand and turned his head away.

Daniel couldn't promise. But if he didn't promise Harrison right now, who knows what consequences would come….

Daniel knew that his adoptive father was right though… He hadn't ever kept a secret from Daniel that wouldn't hurt him in the long run, so why would he start now? An intense feeling built up in Daniel's heart when he realized how much he could have been hurting Harrison's feelings every time he accused them of hiding something.

How _selfish…_

"I promise." Daniel said in the spur of the moment, locking both of his eyes with Harrison; who opened his arms and offered Daniel a hug. Without hesitation, Daniel hugged Harrison back, letting the warmth spread through both of them. However, what Daniel couldn't see was the thin lipped smile spread across Harrison's face.

His plan was going according to schedule…

 **Later at STAR Labs**

"So, Cisco, what kind of stuff do you make in here?" Daniel's curious voice spread through the empty cortex loosely. Daniel sat down on one of the chairs near the computer desks, with his feet up and his face buried in a book.

The book was about armor. Modern day armor, such as Kevlar, PPSS, and proto-type meta-human armor. Daniel had gulped up all of the information from all 200 pages in little under an hour, and now had a new understand about the materials needed to make armor.

Now Daniel just needed to find out how to construct it…

"Well, we mostly do whatever Dr. Wells tells us to do." Cisco replied to Daniel loudly, simultaneously bouncing into the room with a half-eaten beef stick in his hand. "In my spare time, I like to make stuff, though. And I get ALOT of spare time."

Cisco took another big bite of his beef stick and walked straight to the open door that led to the corridor of the cortex. As he walked, the bubbly man waved Daniel to follow him, which Daniel did immediately. They walked for a few seconds until they reached another room with an open door.

" _This_ is my 'happy' place!" Cisco exclaimed happily, a large smile breaking across his face when he took a step in. The mechanical engineer waved the younger boy in and Daniel awkwardly stepped in and looked around. Daniel placed his finished book in the small gap between his cast and his left arm, so that it wouldn't be distracting him.

From where he stood, Daniel could see most of the room. The room was a perfect symmetrical square, and was painted a lighter grey then the rest of the lab. There were multiple tables in the room and dozens of equipment laid out, seemingly scattered.

There were two things that caught Daniel's attention immediately. One being a large metallic gun with a blue tint around it. Daniel squinted his eyes and read the label as 'cryonic gun', before turning his attention to the other interesting object.

It looked like a ring from where Daniel stood. The interesting thing was the completely red color that it had to it and the strange lightning bolt design that it had. Due to curiosity, Daniel took a step towards it and reached for it, …

Cisco snatched it from the surface of the table faster than Daniel could blink.

"That's a prototype! I'm not even sure what it's really for yet! It might end up being just an accessory or… Or it might turn you invisible… like the ring in the Hobbit! That would be cool! _So_ cool!" After a few more seconds of desperate babbling, Cisco took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to keep his gaze away from Daniel's extremely bewildered face.

"Anyways…" Cisco safely put the lightning bolt ring in his pocket and went behind Daniel, gently pushing him forward to make sure the teenager was in front of him at all times. That was close…

"So what's that?" Daniel asked, ignoring the event that just passed, and instead focusing on the cryonic gun that was on display in front of him. Cisco grinned widely and almost giggled when he saw that Daniel was interested in the gun.

"This…" Cisco picked up the cryonic gun and held it by the handle. "… is a Cryonic gun, but I like to call it the 'cold gun'. I used a combination of liquid Helium and liquid Nitrogen as the fuel and the rest was pretty easy to build." Cisco told Daniel casually, who looked at it with awe.

"Awesome." Daniel said in fascination, examining the gun with interest. Before he was struck by the Dark Matter, something like a cold gun would be in the realm of the impossible for Daniel to build, but now he could almost understand it.

"So all you needed to do was get the liquid Helium and the liquid Nitrogen and put it in that containment cylinder?" Daniel asked, taking a few steps closer to Cisco and the gun. That's right, and then all he would need to do is find a solid substance that wouldn't freeze over while the gun shot out the freezing substance.

"Correct!" Cisco exclaimed happily, handing the cold gun over to Daniel while he went off to grab a certain pair of blue tinted goggles from the table. Cisco put his phone down where the goggles previously where. While Cisco was looking for the goggles, Daniel looked the cold gun over a few times, letting his eyes roam over each and every detail with interest.

"And these are the goggles that you need to put on while firing it." Cisco told Daniel smoothly, appearing back in front of him with the blue goggles on his face. Cisco took the gun back from Daniel and pointed it towards an empty soda can that he had laying around.

"I'd recommend that you cover your eyes." Cisco warned Daniel excitedly, the large grin spread across his face showing Daniel that Cisco was really proud of the cold gun. Daniel covered his eyes with his right arm, his left arm still in the cast to cover up his meta-human healing.

Cisco pressed the trigger and grinned as the gun released the liquid as a fast moving steady stream of blue 'fire'. Of course it wasn't really fire, but the appearance that the liquid took as it went from the gun to the empty can looked like an icy inferno.

When the beam struck the can, it instantly turned icy blue, and the crackling sound of ice echoed around the room. Not long after, the can became engulfed by ice and the ice began to creep down onto the table to spread. However, Cisco released the trigger before it did.

"You can remove your hand now."

Daniel listened to Cisco in a heartbeat, quickly removing his hand to see the results of the cold gun. Daniel didn't even need to speak to portray the awe that he felt towards the invention. The teenager took a deep breath and turned to Cisco with an interesting glow to his face.

"And _you_ made this?"

"Yep."

"In your spare time?"

"Pretty much."

"Why hasn't my Dad told me about this?"

"That's because he doesn't know…" Cisco said sheepishly, putting the gun down on the table and taking off the goggles. Daniel raised his eyebrow in confusion, keeping his eyes on Cisco's back.

"Why? If I made one of these, everyone would know!" Daniel told Cisco enthusiastically, trying to get Cisco to reveal why he was hiding it from Dr. Wells. Daniel pinned it to wasting resources but he had a feeling that it was something else.

"Because… Have you heard of the Flash since you woke up?" Cisco asked Daniel silently, bringing his voice to a whisper. Daniel bit the corner of his gum and nodded his head weakly. He'd heard a few people mention a Superhero reducing crime in Central City, but he didn't have much time to look it up.

"I've heard a few things about it. He's some kind Superhero Meta-human, right? I read on the news that he was at the school the other day? Daniel asked Cisco, who nodded his head and leaned forward, prompting Daniel to do the same. When they were close enough for Cisco to whisper, Cisco took a deep breath.

"Dr. Wells told you about the super-natural powers that metas possess right?" Cisco asked Daniel, who nodded in response. "Well, don't you think that there should be a defense mechanism for every meta-human we know about?"

Daniel's eyes widened when he realized what the cold gun was make to do. It was a defense mechanism made against the Flash. Now the cold nature of the gun made even more sense…

"The cold temperature that the gun generates should theoretically slow down the Flash's movements and make it easier to apprehend him if he ever becomes a supervillain." Daniel finished for Cisco, who's face lit up slightly when he saw that Daniel understood where he was coming from.

"Exactly!" Cisco exclaimed, leaning away from Daniel and reaching for a card. "But Dr. Wells has complete faith in the Flash and wouldn't have approved of me creating the Cold Gun. So I had to do it behind his back."

Cisco swirled the black card in his hand for a few seconds before handing it to Daniel. "This is my information just in case you want to do some science stuff together." Cisco told Daniel, an approving smile on his face.

Daniel felt honored that such an amazing inventor would want to make stuff with him, and took the card swiftly, placing it in his back pocket for consideration later. His body was brimming with excitement but he took a breath and calmed down, looking around the room.

"That'll be awesome." Daniel replied, trying not to sound too excited. "Do you have any blueprints for the gun?"

"Of course! They're right over here!" Cisco answered swiftly, simultaneous walking back over to the cold gun and picking up a large piece of rolled up paper. "This is everything I used to make the gun, and how I made it."

Daniel grinned and took the blueprints from Cisco's hand. He knew that Cisco wouldn't let him keep the blueprints, so he would only have a few seconds to see it. Fortunately for him, a few seconds would be more than enough time.

Daniel didn't even need to look where he was directing his attention. Cisco's phone. Cisco had put it down next to where the goggles previously where. Daniel opened the blueprints and exhaled loudly, his eyes quickly scanning over the entire sheet

"My phone!" Cisco groaned loudly, just as his phone fell off the table and connected with the ground. Did he leave it near the edge of the table? He couldn't remember, but what he did know was that if this phone broke, he would be royally screwed.

As Cisco bent down and scooped up his phone carefully, Daniel closed the blueprints and turned around to look at Cisco with a concerned expression wrapping his face.

"Is your phone okay?" Daniel asked Cisco slowly, not even slightly guilty that he was the one that slid it off the table. Cisco nodded and grinned widely when he realized that his phone was perfectly fine. Strange… A drop from that height should have definitely cracked the screen.

"Yeah, bro. It didn't crack at all…" Cisco said out loud, just as he checked the back of the phone to make sure that there were no cracks at all. Daniel smiled and turned to the door. Cisco didn't know it but it was because Daniel wrapped it in a Telekinetic wrapping that was strong enough to halt the vibrations from shattering the phone.

"Oh, there's a few messages from Barry…" Cisco said slowly, and the room fell into silence. Cisco's eyes widened considerably when he opened the first message and he looked up at Daniel with wide eyes.

"Crap! Barry told me to remind you about the lunch planned for later and I completely forgot!" Cisco realized, the room falling into silence for a few seconds. Cisco's face fell from shock to confused as Daniel didn't seem to have any outward reaction to something that he _assumed_ would make Daniel rush out of the room.

"From that reaction, you're not too happy about having lunch with Barry and the Wests?" Cisco asked with hesitation, trying to get any sort of emotion from Daniel's still face. It wasn't more than a second after that Daniel exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Barry isn't the problem…" Daniel told Cisco quietly. "Barry seems to think that I _want_ to meet the people that adopted him."

Cisco silently crossed the room and went to the door, signaling for Daniel to follow him out of the room. Daniel followed silently and let Cisco close the door before walking ahead of him to the main room of the cortex.

" _Barry just wants to have a happy family again_. _"_ Cisco's voice reached Daniel loudly and clearly, but Daniel instantly knew something was wrong. Cisco's voice sent shivers running down his spine and not more than a second later, the voice began to assault Daniel's again

" _He won't tell Dr. Wells about the cold gun, right? Of course he wouldn't. Daniel understands where I'm coming from. I only built the gun to protect the city just in case it all goes wrong._ _I'm in the right here…"_

Daniel took a deep breath when the onslaught of Cisco's voice came raining in on him; causing an intense nauseating feeling to overrun him. It was Cisco talking to himself, and somehow Daniel was also listening to it. It didn't take long for Daniel to realize that it was another ability sprouting from his meta-human ability…

"Telepathy…" Daniel's voice unknowingly came out of his mouth in a whisper, forcing Cisco's attention to fall back on Daniel. When Cisco turned his head to face Daniel, however, his face went from relaxed to a deep concern…

"Dude, you're bleeding!" Cisco realized, quickly rushing over to Daniel to check if he was okay. Daniel looked at Cisco as if he was insane, before lifting his hand up to his nose and dabbing the blood with his hand.

The scarlet liquid dripped out of his nose like a broken tap, and Daniel's eyes widened when he felt the cold liquid on his hand.

"I'll go and get you tissue!" Cisco shouted out to Daniel, running off somewhere to go and find some tissue. While Cisco was gone, Daniel groaned and covered his nose with both of his hands, attempting to conceal the blood. These were the clothes he was supposed to be wearing to lunch later…

Cisco came back quickly with a bunch of tissue and Daniel took it thankfully, placing the large clump of thin strips on his nose. The blood quickly soaked up into the tissue as Daniel sat down on the floor in the corridor of the cortex.

"Dude, what happened?!" Cisco asked obnoxiously, forcing Daniel to take a deep breath and close his eyes tightly. No… He wouldn't tell Cisco about him being a meta-human.

"Go away… Forget that you saw anything…" Daniel spoke out weakly, feeling even more light headed then before. Daniel wasn't sure if he was even controlling himself when he had just commanded Cisco to go off, but whatever he just tried to do was very risky.

Cisco's face twisted into a blank glare, and the short engineer turned away from Daniel and walked off down the corridor. The fading sound of footsteps carried on until there was nothing but silence in the cortex…

Daniel exhaled and weakly stood up. It definitely was telepathy; but unfortunately it worked the same as his Telekinesis. Like a muscle… As Daniel walked to the main computer room of the cortex, he used the tissue to wipe up the remaining blood from his nose and chucked it into the nearest trash can.

Now that he overstretched it, it would definitely come back stronger… How much stronger, Daniel didn't know yet. However, that was what he was planning on testing out later.

Daniel glanced at his watch on the way out, outwardly frowning when he realized the time. He only had about an hour before Barry was supposed to swing by STAR Labs to pick Daniel up and bring him to the West household for lunch.

As Daniel reached the computer room and sat down at one of the desks, he knew exactly what he was going to do. After all, who would want to have lunch with complete strangers without knowing something about their past?

 **1 Hour Later – West Household**

"You think he'll like us daddy?"

A slightly nervous voice rang through the house, followed by a few silent footsteps. The owner of the voice sighed loudly when she realized that she wasn't going to get an answer for now. After all, Iris knew that her father was just as nervous as she was about this lunch.

Iris West mumbled to herself as she set up the family table to accommodate four people for the first time in 7 years… The young reporter didn't know what to expect but even so, she was still extremely nervous to meet Barry's little brother.

Over the last month Barry spoke about Daniel nonstop, and Iris didn't blame him. When she found out that Barry was in a coma, she had been distraught for weeks… That was why it hurt Iris to find out that Daniel and Barry's relationship was becoming more and more strained over the last few days.

Obviously, Barry didn't tell Iris _why_ he and Daniel were at a disagreement. Barry didn't tell her anything nowadays. It felt like the only thing she knew about him was that he worked at the CCPD and hung out at STAR Labs all the time.

What does Barry do at STAR Labs anyways?

"He'll like you, Iris…" Joe's voice came from the stairway, reaching her easily. Her father's powerful voice wasn't hard to recognize, and she looked up with a smile. She knew what he was hinting at…

"Daddy, don't sweat it. You'll be fine…" Iris said with a warm smile on her face, although on the inside she was uncertain. Even though it was _her_ first time meeting Daniel, it wasn't the first time for Joe.

"For Barry's sake, I really hope that you're right…" Joe sighed loudly, his face forcing a small smile to cross his face. Iris frowned and a shimmer of worry showed itself in her eyes, before she smiled and turned back to setting up.

"Just think positively, and everything will be fine." Iris replied cheerfully, just as she finished setting up the table. This time, however, Joe didn't reply. Instead, the older man stood silently with his face wrapped in Bewilderment.

 _Clank!_

The sound of the door being unlocked broke Joe out of his stupor sharply, and the realization of the entire situation weighed down on him harder than ever before. Joe looked up at the door slowly, releasing a lengthy and heavy sigh from his mouth.

"It's okay…"

Joe heard Iris's words of encouragement but they went into one ear and straight out of the other. Soon enough, the door creaked open and a bright faced Barry peaked into the house, a large smile spread on his face.

"If my nose is working right, it's telling me that you guys went and made my favorite food for lunch!" Barry called out from the slightly opened door, lightening up both Iris and Joe's face. The older Allen brother always seemed to bring joy to the Wests, even in the most nerve racking moments.

"Hey Iris, did you cook all the food?" Barry turned his attention to the rosy faced journalist, hugging the shorter woman when she approached him. As Barry hugged Iris, a rather steel faced blonde stepped from behind Barry and into the house, stiffly looking around.

It didn't take a psychic for Joe to see that Daniel _didn't_ want to be there. Despite the enormous growth in height and the dramatic change in appearance, Joe could still recognize the pure _hatred_ that he felt radiated off of Daniel whenever they were around each other.

The world went on without Joe as he examined the blonde boy that stood next to his adopted son. Joe could see that Daniel's arm was still in a sling, clearly from the day the school was destroyed by the crazy meta-human girl that was going after Daniel.

Joe continued to examine the boy, and soon enough, Joe looked up and was struck by two glowing sky blue eyes staring back at him. For a second, Daniel's sky blue eyes and Joe's dark brown eyes collided, and Joe instantly knew how Daniel felt about this.

"I'm sure you guys haven't seen each other in a long time, but you guys don't even say hello?!" Barry broke the awkward silence with a quirky joke; smiling wholeheartedly as put one hand on Daniel's shoulder on the other on Joe's shoulder.

"Good afternoon, Mr. West." Daniel said along with a forced smile, just as he offered his hand for Joe to shake. To keep the peace, Joe reached forward and took Daniel's hand in his own, gently holding Daniel's hand with a smile of his own.

"Good afternoon to you too, Daniel. Please, call me Joe." Joe replied smoothly, a large grin crossing his face as he did so. Daniel inhaled through his nose and Joe felt Daniel's grip tighten considerably, causing Joe to wince.

"Tight grip." Joe noted aloud, trying to bring attention to the meeting. If it wasn't for the fact that Daniel released Joe's hand and turned to walk over and meet Iris, Joe was sure that his hand would be completely useless.

Remembering the brief stare down with Daniel, Joe looked down at his slowly reddening hand and took a deep breath.

This was going to be the longest lunch of his life...


	6. A Bond

**A Different Kind of Story**

 **Chapter 5:** Varied Hatred

" _A quick temper will make a fool of you soon."_ – Bruce Lee

 **June 2010 – Central City Elementary**

The playground was brimming with noise. Children screaming… Boys running around the hallways with paper stars and excited grins. Everyone was either eating or speeding around with their friends, brimming with unkempt energy that was begging to escape.

Well, all but one student… Said ten-year-old was seated in complete silence, his large headphones on his ears and a large red hood covering his head. Strands of blonde hair could be seen poking out of the top of the hood, and calm blue eyes stared out into space as the music blasted into his ears.

For the first time in a long time, the lonely boy saw someone approaching him from the corner of his eye. He quickly looked down at the ground so that he wouldn't look directly at the approaching figure.

"Are you going to come and play… Umm… What's your name again?"

The ten-year-old didn't move from his spot, possibly because he couldn't hear the other boy, or maybe because he thought that if he didn't reply, the other kid would leave him alone. Unfortunately for the blonde, the short black haired kid stood over him patiently, casting a dark shadow onto the lonely boy.

"Hey, can you hear me?" The black haired kid asked loudly, deciding to drop the orange basketball in his hand to reach for the blonde's headphones. Noticing the attempt to take off his headphones, the blonde kid jerked back and away from the black haired kid's hand.

"I can hear you…" The blonde replied quietly, his voice low and scratchy, as if he hadn't spoken all morning. He reached up and removed his headphone slowly, along with the red hood, releasing the mop of hidden blonde hair on his head.

"What do you want?" The blonde asked blankly, looking up at the shorter kid with a blank expression on his face. This was the first time in a while that someone came up to him at lunch to try and talk to him. After all, he was the new student and everyone was already comfortable with their friend groups…

"You don't have to be so harsh, Blondie." The black haired boy replied jokingly, a wide smile spreading on his face as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. "All I wanted to know was if you want to play basketball with me!"

"Well, I don-"

"Oh, and your name!" The black haired kid interrupted obnoxiously, cutting off the blonde boy unintentionally. Said boy took a deep breath and looked up at the black haired kid with a straightened lip and a confused expression.

"Why would you want to play with _me_?" The lonely kid asked the black haired kid, who reached out with his hand, offering the blonde a chance to get off his seat. The blonde stared at the hand for a few seconds, before caving in and standing up, easily overshadowing the shorter boy with at least 5 more inches in height.

"Well, you look like you have some _sick_ handles! I wanted to see if your height was just for show!" The shorter boy told the blonde with a convincing grin on his face, even though they both knew that it wasn't the complete truth.

They both fell silent for a few second while the blonde gave the black haired boy a silent stare, both of his cerulean blue eyes locking into the other boy's clear eyes. Surprisingly, the shorter kid didn't shrink away from the blonde, and instead, the same large smile was spread across his face.

Silence kept on for the next few moments, before the blonde kid reached out with his hand to the other boy.

"Daniel Allen…"

In an instant, the black haired kid shook Daniel's hand and grinned widely, clear excitement radiating from the expression on his face. Daniel couldn't hold back the sliver of a smile that snaked across his face.

"William Batson, but you can call me Billy!" The shorter boy revealed loudly. As he did, Daniel let go of Billy's hand and his hand slowly retreated back to his pocket. Daniel didn't recognize hearing that name before, and he was pretty sure that he'd heard all of his classmate's names already.

Before either of the two could get another word out, the school bell rang out loudly, catching both of the kid's attention. Unknown to the other, both boys frowned deeply when they heard the sound of the haunting call back to class.

Daniel let out a loud sigh and rolled his eyes to the side, thinking about how much trouble he was going to get into for not doing his homework the night prior. Daniel reached down effortlessly and picked up his school bag; slowly placing it on his back.

When he turned to face Billy, he saw the other kid reaching over sadly to pick up his basketball. Daniel wanted to speak what was on his mind, but he couldn't manage to get it out of his mouth… Fortunately, he didn't need to.

"So Daniel, what class do you have next?" Billy asked half-heartedly, obviously trying to procrastinate his own return to class. Daniel soon realized that Billy didn't want to go back to class either, and he smiled unknowingly; already liking the kid that shared a similar personality as his own.

"Math…" Daniel replied slowly, both of his cerulean blue eyes shifting from watching Billy to the entrance of the building that he was supposed to be entering. "But… I don't really plan on going." Daniel told Billy, uneasily walking in the opposite direction from the Math block.

Billy's face lit up with excitement and he pursued Daniel silently, and in the silence, a thick bond was formed.

 **A Few Days Later**

Daniel couldn't pinpoint _why_ he decided to trust Billy Batson with his secret hiding spot, or even why he continued to talk to the black haired goof ball, but for the entire week, they were always seen together or with the other one trailing close behind.

Soon enough, a watchful eye noticed the friendship that was forming between the two, and not shortly after, decided to confront it.

"So how was school this week? Meet anyone new?" Harrison Wells asked the blonde haired kid happily, a small hint of a smile showing itself across his slightly wrinkled face.

Daniel hopped into the open car swiftly, not hesitating to throw his school bag into the back of the car roughly. A large glowing smile was on his face when he turned to face Harrison, his happiness clearly showing.

"Hey, Dad! Yeah, I met this guy on Monday! His name is Billy! He's really cool! He's really good at basketball too!" Daniel went on and on about his new best friend, a continuous flow of words streaming from his mouth until they got home.

Daniel couldn't really make friends in his old school, especially after the _incident._ They all seemed to avoid him after that point, and whenever someone did speak to him, it was out of fear or curiosity. They were never really interested in becoming his friend…

Finally, they pulled up to the extremely large driveway and Harrison smiled outwardly as he listened to Daniel chatter on about Billy Batson. Harrison probably knew more about the kid then Daniel knew himself, but nevertheless, Harrison kept silent.

Soon enough, Daniel's energy ran out and he slumped back into the car seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Aren't you happy? You've been trying to get me to make friends since I got to this new school…" Daniel grumbled loudly, turning his head to face away from Harrison. Daniel couldn't understand why Harrison was giving him the silent treatment, but Daniel was certain that he didn't like it…

"Sorry, Daniel. I've just had a really stressful day." Harrison sighed, reaching his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Billy Batson… Of all the people for Daniel to befriend, he decided to befriend the future Prince of Thunder himself.

Speaking of Billy Batson, why was he even in Central City anyways? From what he remembered being told, Fawcett City was supposed to be where the young Batson grew up…

 _Definitely_ not Central City.

"Go inside, Daniel. It's about time you took your medication." Harrison said, which caused Daniel to frown. "I also made some spaghetti and meatballs for you." Harrison told Daniel softly, a warm smile spreading across his face. Daniel's eyes lit up and he turned to face Harrison swiftly, hugging his waiting arm tightly.

"My favorite! Thanks Dad!" Daniel exclaimed excitedly, his entire structure expressing how excited he was to eat his spaghetti. After a few moments, Daniel let go and jumped out of the car, running into the mansion and closing the door behind him.

The car fell into silence…

"You're _not_ my son."

Harrison's fists tightened, discoloring his knuckles and causing his body to vibrate slightly. His darting dark eyes locked onto the last place that Daniel was seen, drilling invisible holes into the front door of the house. His thin pink lips became tightly clamped together and his eyes narrowed.

"You're just a temporary necessity…"

 **2013 – Wells Mansion**

"It's late Billy, what's up?"

Daniel unlocked his window and silently shifted it open, wide enough for his best friend to weasel himself in. The now thirteen-year-old Daniel rubbed his sleepy eyes as the figure clambered through the open window and into his room.

Daniel closed the window behind Billy cautiously, hoping not to wake up Harrison. That was, if Harrison was even home. After closing the window, Daniel turned and faced Billy, only to frown considerably at what he saw.

Billy was crying…

Daniel was shocked and confused. This was the first time that he'd seen the shorter boy cry, and it was truly a worrying development. Billy wasn't usually someone that cried during hard times, even when he was really hurt, so Daniel couldn't believe that what he was seeing was real…

Nevertheless, crystal clear tears ran down Billy's rosy cheeks, decorating his face with a cool wetness. His bottom lip was trembling and the sclera of his eyes was a dilute red, telling Daniel that Billy had been crying for quite a while.

"T-They're dead… M-Mom... D-Dad…"

Those were the only words that managed to escape from Billy's mouth before he could no longer speak. Before long, Daniel enveloped his best friend in a bone crushing hug, which was returned by an even stronger hug...

From that point on, their shared loss strengthened their relationship considerably and the two boys became the other's emotional anchor.

Inseparable.

 **Night of The Particle Accelerator Explosion**

"I helped him make such a good plan and he didn't even text me back to tell me if it worked…" Billy moaned loudly, just as he sat back roughly on the teal couch beneath him. It was the night of the Particle Accelerator opening and he was waiting for the results of Daniel's little 'escapee' plot to get over to the police station.

Billy wasn't mad or anything… He was just a little… _Impatient_. Yeah, that was the word he was looking for.

"So are we going to fix the electricity or not? My dad said I need to be home soon…" A timid and slow voice spoke out in the room, snapping Billy out of his annoyed glaring at the wall. Turning around to face the source of the voice, Billy made eye contact with Max Mercury for a split second, before Max turned his head away timidly.

Max Mercury was probably the shiest and most withdrawn people in the entire school, and that was probably what drew Billy to try and make friends with him. Billy didn't like seeing people without friends… Unfortunately for Billy, making friends with the grey haired teenager was a lot harder then he thought that it would be.

This was the first time that Max had been over at Billy's house, and so far it was pretty fun. Well, as long as Billy was making constant conversation and ignored some of the weird things that Max would say and do…

Twirling _really_ sharp pocket knives in his hands…

Saying 'that's what she said' to almost every joke, even if it didn't make any sense…

Staring into nothingness…

However, by far the weirdest thing that Max did was constantly bring up his family life. No matter what Billy said, Max would somehow bring up his parents and how amazing they were. It didn't take long for Billy to realize that something was off.

Plus, it wasn't the first time that he came to the concluded that Max was abused…

Billy replied to Max with a nod and soon they found themselves in Billy's backyard, way up in his tree-house trying to fix a power generator. Billy watched Max handle the power generator with calm eyes, casually sitting down cross legged opposite Max.

"Are you sure that it's supposed to be plugged in?" Max asked Billy timidly, nervously flickering his eyes between the power generator and the plug which had been connected to wall socket closest to them. Logically, the power generator shouldn't be connected to a source of electricity while they're fiddling with it, but…

"It's fine. The power generator isn't working, so it shouldn't be receiving any of the electricity." Billy told Max confidently, reassuringly reaching over to pat the grey haired kid on the back. Instinctively, Max flinched back violently, keeping Billy's hand away from his back as best as possible.

Billy's eyes crossed over in concern for Max, and the grey haired kid turned his head down to the power generator, beginning to work on it much more urgently then before. Billy wanted to question it, but assuming that it was better to leave it, Billy went on his phone to surf Instagram.

After a few minutes, Max looked up feebly at Billy and smiled weakly, his pale skin crinkling as he did.

"I did it… It's fixed…" Max said lowly, handing Billy the generator extremely slowly. Billy looked it up and down and after a quick inspection, his face lit up brightly, showing off the excitement burning from within. Billy tightened his fist and brought it forward in Max's direction, offering him a fist bump.

The room fell silent for a few moments…

Max stared at Billy's fist with wide eyes, a wondering bewilderment obviously showing on his face. Billy kept his fist bump up for a few more moments, before sighing and dropping it. He obviously hadn't been fist bumped before.

An awkward silence fell on them both, neither of them knowing what to say. Billy was going through all of the things that was coming to his head, but the only things he could think of saying was along the lines of 'Do you have any friends apart from me?', or 'You should get out more'; both being things that Billy found could be offensive.

At moments like this, Billy really wished Daniel was there…

"Well…" Billy awkwardly drummed his fingers on his uncovered knees, his eyes awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Max. "Thanks for fixing my power generato-"

Billy was interrupted from his sentence by a deafening roar ripping through the entire city, completely drowning out Billy's voice and catching their attention. It didn't take Billy long before he was kneeling by the window and looking for the source of the sound.

"Woah…"

A wave of energy swept closer to the tree-house, becoming visible moments before it struck the tree-house. Billy's eyes widened considerably and he tried to back up, but he fell back onto Max, who was trying to take a look at the spiral of light coming from STAR Labs.

In the process of falling on top of Max, Billy tangled himself up in the cable, before clumsily dropping the power generator onto the ground and accidentally activating it.

Golden electricity surged from the generator, instantly coiling around the cable and into Billy's body, crackling violently as it entered into his body and began to electrocute Billy violently. The electricity transferred onto Max, who lay helplessly underneath Billy's shaking body.

Billy's eyes rolled into the back of his head at the exact moment when the foreign energies swept through the tree-house, engulfing both of the electricity filled teens with the unknown energy.

 **A Month Later**

 _Beep… Beep…. Beep…._

A lone figure was seated in an uncomfortable chair in an almost empty room. Apart from the medical equipment, the only thing that that was in the room was an occupied hospital bed and the chair that the teenager was sitting on.

Billy put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes furiously, trying to dispel the tiredness from his system. After a few attempts, Billy realized that it was useless and looked down at his cheap plastic watch.

 **12:01 AM**

"It's getting late, Billy. We're going to be locking up soon." Cisco informed Billy ask he walked past the door, not even stopping to see if Billy was going to follow him. This was regular. Billy would come around to visit Daniel every day for about an hour and a half, usually at night, and would leave when they were closing shop.

It was directly a month after Barry and Daniel had been struck by lightning and fallen into a comma. Currently it was unknown if they were even going to _wake_ up, let alone recover from their coma.

The room fell into silence once again, leaving Billy to contemplate his mistake. This was all his fault… If he didn't help Daniel make a plan to go and meet Barry, then Daniel wouldn't have been in the office when the lightning bolt struck.

And now, because Billy helped Daniel to meet Barry, his best friend was laying in comatose…

"I know you can't hear me… But I really need you to wake up soon…" Billy said in a low tone, his strained voice carrying over how distraught he felt inside. How cruel of the world… To take his best friend from him while also giving him incredible powers.

"I know you already know that I got some… Abilities from the Particle Accelerator explosion… But I'd like to tell you that I'm using them to save people. I don't want anyone to lose their family like we did…" Billy informed his comatose best friend, a confident smirk spreading across his face, despite the tears that threatened to escape his eyes.

The sound of footsteps brought Billy back to attention. He turned to the door while swiftly wiping his eyes with his sleeve, making sure that no one could see his glossy eyes. A few seconds later, Cisco poked his head into the room and gave Billy an apologetic smile, before slinking away and into another room.

Billy frowned and walked over to the door, before stopping and turning back to glance at the unconscious teenager. His eyes landed on Daniel's unconscious body and stayed there for a few moments, while Billy said a mental farewell…

 **Present – March 2016 - Jitters**

"You really don't understand how much everyone missed you." Billy said loudly, before shoving a spoon full of ice cream into his mouth. It wasn't the best of ideas to be eating such a cold delicacy at the very end of winter, but who cares?! Ice cream is delicious!

"You mean, 'You really don't understand how much _I_ missed you'." Daniel corrected him cheekily, as he sat back comfortably and took a sip of his hot chocolate. Billy's creamy skin went a shade redder and he chuckled obnoxiously.

"I hope your hot chocolate burns your tongue off." Billy tells the blonde with a satisfied grin on his face. Daniel chuckled in response, before taking another big sip of his hot chocolate, choosing not to reply yet. Billy takes the time to scan over Daniel's 'broken' arm, which was still in a triangular sling on his chest

Billy couldn't help but to inwardly laugh when he saw the uncomfortable position that Daniel's arm was in. Good thing Billy decided to transform into Captain Marvel, or else Daniel would be in a much more uncomfortable place.

"You think that my arm being broken is funny, don't you?" Daniel asked with an amused smile on his face. Unknowing to him, there was a thin chocolate mustache coating his peach fuzz mustache. Billy tried to hold in his laughter by shoving his face with more ice cream.

When Billy finished the ice cream cone, he took a deep breath and looked up at Daniel with an expecting expression on his face.

"You called me out here to tell me something, didn't you?" Billy asked Daniel hopefully, as he himself had something to tell Daniel too. About him being Captain Marvel, that is…

Daniel nodded solemnly and swirled the remainder of his hot chocolate around in his plastic cup, before pouring some of the liquid content out on the table. Billy raised an eyebrow in interest, but he chose not to question it.

"What do you think about the meta-humans?" Daniel asked Billy slowly, both of their blue eyes meeting simultaneously and trading emotions. Curiosity met burning confidence.

"Well…" Billy's eyebrows furrowed and he sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Some of them are complete crazies but other than that, they have pretty amazing superpowers! Look at the Flash and Captain Marvel! They're both pretty awesome!"

Billy watched as Daniel's face lightened up a little bit. Billy didn't have a clue where this conversation was going, but the lightened look that appeared on Daniel's face at least meant that he didn't absolutely _hate_ meta-humans…

"This might be a weird question, but do you know any meta-humans? You know, apart from the one that tried to kill me…" Daniel asked quickly, his sparkling cerulean eyes now looking downwards at the puddle of hot chocolate. Billy raised an eyebrow and he unfolded his arms, a large and amused grin on his face.

Maybe his big reveal would be easier then he originally thought.

"Yep!" Billy said in a loud whisper, making sure that no one else in Jitters could hear. Daniel narrowed his eyes in shock, and Billy instantly knew that Daniel hadn't been expecting that answer.

"Actually, I know more than one meta-human! And one of them is my friend!" Billy whispered over to Daniel, who sat back and crossed his arms over his chest with a disappointed look on his face. Billy's lips twisted into an interested grin and he leaned forward onto the table to look closer at Daniel.

"Are you jealous yet?" Billy teased smoothly, smiling smugly at his best friend; simultaneously poking Daniel shin under the table with his foot. Daniel shook his head and used his index finger to flick Billy in the forehead.

"Ouch!" Billy grumbled loudly, obviously exaggerating the pain while rubbing the spot that Daniel flicked furiously, as if to smoothen down the pain.

"I'm not jealous of you knowing meta-humans because…" Daniel replied with a chuckle, before leaning in towards Billy. "…I'm a meta-human…" Daniel whispered extremely lowly, making sure that only Billy could hear.

That was the least thing that Billy had expected this conversation to lead. Billy's face twisted into shock for a moment, which caused Daniel's face to fall into a frown… Had it been a bad idea for Daniel to tell his best friend?

Billy's shocked face slowly melted away and was replaced with a cackle. A cackle which led to a chuckle. And a chuckle which soon led to full blown laughter…

Daniel sat back in his seat and bit the corner of his lip, not entirely sure why Billy had fallen into hysterics. What was so funny about him being a meta-human? Daniel tucked his free hand into the sling, giving the appearance that he was crossing his arms.

When Billy started to calm down from his hysterics, Daniel turned his head away to look out the closest window. Billy took a few deep breaths as he calmed down his laughter, and soon enough he managed wipe out the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Well, that was unexpected." Billy chuckled slowly, before reaching over the table to reassuringly pat Daniel's arm. Daniel looked over slowly, his stony face easily showing how annoyed he was that he was getting laughed at.

"What's so funny, _William_?" Daniel asked teasingly, using Billy unused first name in an attempt to annoy him in return. However, Billy didn't care, and instead, Billy lifted his hand above the not-so-hot hot chocolate puddle and chuckled.

"You don't have to be so harsh, _Blondie_." Billy laughed. "All this time, I've been trying to figure out how to tell you and you just invite me to Jitters and tell me that you're a meta-human like it's nothing!" Billy chuckled quietly, making sure to be extra quite when talking about Daniel being a meta-human.

"Tell me what?" Daniel asked, narrowing his eyes. With his new-found meta-human intelligence, he had multiple ideas about what it could be, but didn't pin it down to one. Billy lowered his hand over the chocolate puddle and lightning began to arch from his palm and struck the puddle viciously, evaporating it in a matter of seconds.

Daniel instantly knew what that meant. Large grins spread across both of their creamy white faces instantly, brightened up their faces. They were both meta-humans…

"Come on!" Billy clenched his fist, dispelling the arcs of lightning that had previously been dancing across Billy's palm. Billy quickly jumped up to his feet and picked up the remainder of his delicious ice-cream dish, before heading to the exit.

Daniel wasn't far behind his friend; both boys having an abnormal level of excitement radiating off of them both.

This was going to be interesting…

 **Iron Heights**

Leonard Snart was never someone to stay in one city at a time. His routine was simple; Steal, sell, move, repeat… He was an international thief that was as hard as a phantom to catch. In fact, Snart was most likely the very best of his profession.

Then what had landed him in Iron Height prison?

Well, a simple explanation would be that Snart hadn't expected a Meta-human speedster to intervene and spoil his master plan.

The plan was going smoothly. They had already hijacked the armored truck and they were on track to stealing the Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond right before it could get to the Central City Museum. It all seemed perfect until a bolt of lightning rushed into the scene.

They called him the Flash, as Snart would later find out. The rumors that he could run at super human speeds was an understatement… The Flash took out his entire squad in a blink of an eye, and Snart was powerless to stop it.

It was his greatest failure.

And because of that failure, he was now sitting alone in his grey prison cell; silently contemplating his revenge on the Flash. However, he would have to get out of this filthy prison first.

 _Clank!_

"You have a visitor."

Snart's stony face didn't change though, even as he walked through the prison and towards the meeting room. Even though he didn't outwardly show it, his interest was peaking. Who could possibly be coming to visit _him_ of all people?

When they placed Snart down at the meeting room and removed his hand cuffs, Simon Stagg was the last person that Leonard was expecting to see behind the glass…

They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, as Snart tried to figure out why the owner of Stagg Industries was meeting up with a thief. Maybe he found out that Snart had stolen from Stagg Industries a few years ago? No, that couldn't be it…

Snart saw the smug smile that crossed Simon's face and it caused a dark pit to form in his stomach. He's lived long enough to know what _that_ meant…

Stagg reached for the communication telephone and smoothly removed it from the wall, placing it to his ear and flashing Snart a suggestive glance at the other telephone. Leonard took a deep breath, dispelling the dark feeling that had engulfed him, before taking the telephone from the wall and placing it on his ear.

"Stagg… Make it quick. I haven't got all day." Snart said slowly, his stony persona easily coming off in his emotionless voice. They both kept constant eye contact as two unbreakable wills clashed silently.

"I guarantee that you're going to have a _lot_ of time when we're done here." Simon told Snart slowly, before sitting back and meeting eyes with the body guards behind Snart. Silently, every cop in the room filtered out as quickly as they came in; removing every other prisoner out of the room.

Not long after, only Simon and Snart were left in the meeting room.

Snart sighed and leaned back in his chair, not breaking the steel eye contact with the billionaire sitting in front of him. He didn't need to look around the room to know that they had both been isolated. Whatever Simon wanted, he didn't want anyone else to know…

Simon put the phone back to his ear and leaned closer to the separating glass, taunting Snart with an enormous grin on his face. Snart narrowed his eyes in anticipation, not once giving away a hint of emotion to the dirty billionaire.

"I've got Lisa." Simon whispered through the phone, intensifying the already stale atmosphere in the room. If Snart was taken back by the statement, he didn't once show it.

"I'm listening…" Snart replied slowly, narrowing his eyes at Stagg ever so slightly. Stagg smiled smugly, as he leaned back in his chair and propped his right leg up on his left leg.

"I'm building a team…"

 **Abandoned Warehouse**

"So you have some sort of telekinesis, super healing, telepathy and…"

" _And_ hyper intelligence. All of my abilities has something to do with my brain." Daniel finished for Billy, casually pacing around the damp warehouse while stretching his previously broken arm. Billy sat cross-legged on the damp floor, tiredly rocking back and forth.

"And you can transform into some sort of Walmart brand Superman?" Daniel teased, smirking when Billy snapped an irritated glance in his direction.

"Shut it, Blondie." Billy grumbled loudly, his eyes drooping and his body tilting to the side. "I'm better then Superman."

"Last time I checked, Superman doesn't get _that_ tired after 5 minutes of going all out." Daniel chuckled loudly, recalling the large muscular man that a fully energized Billy had transformed into just a few minutes prior. He could hear Billy's annoyed grumbling coming from behind him and it only made him grin even more.

Even despite the teasing, they both knew that Billy was far from being a weakened Superman. Maybe one day he could even be stronger… Billy told Daniel about all six of his different 'modes' that he could switch into while activating his powers.

Extreme intelligence.

Extreme strength.

Unmatched stamina.

Lightning manipulation.

Near-Invulnerability.

Extreme speed, and flight.

Over the course of the 9 months that Daniel had been in coma, Billy had found out that he could activate each ability separately and hold them for a considerable amount of time, before becoming exhausted. However, whenever he tried to use more than one of his abilities at the same time, the time it took for him to become exhausted shortened.

It hadn't taken Billy longer than a few months to figure out that combining all 6 abilities transformed him into the large muscular man that people were beginning to label Captain Marvel. Unfortunately for Billy, because of the amount of energy that the form took to stabilize, he could only stay in his Captain Marvel form for a maximum of 5 minutes.

Billy couldn't figure out how to stretch the time that he could use his ability, but Daniel easily figured it out. All Billy would need to do was choose one ability to train a day and use it until he became too exhausted to do anymore. Each day he would change which ability he would use and repeat the same actions.

That will increase the time that Billy could use each individual ability, which would eventually increase the time that he could use his full power Captain Marvel form.

No doubt, Billy was shocked and embarrassed that Daniel found out how to fix his problem so easily, but Daniel knew that he would get over it eventually. Probably later that night, as Billy was staying over.

"Hey man, I'm getting pretty tired…" Billy's voice snapped Daniel out of his stupor, and the bewildered teenager turned to his exhausted friend and took a deep breath. "How about we go back to your place and sleep for a bit?"

"You said that you were going to help me increase the abilities of my powers too, remember?" Daniel questioned the shorter teenager, slowly approaching him across the cold warehouse floor. Billy put his head in his hands and yawned loudly, as if to make his point.

"Well, I did warn you that I get _really_ tired when I finish." Billy joked obviously, forcing a snicker from Daniel. "Plus, it's not like we can't just come back later tonight. I only need a little bit of sleep…" Billy kept going on and on until Daniel rolled his eyes and helped pull Billy up to his feet.

"Fine you little wimp, but you're going to be the one that figures out how we are going to escape without being caught by the cameras…" Daniel rolled his eyes playfully, swiftly wrapping one of his arms around Billy's shoulder and stabilizing him.

"But you're the one with super inte-"

"No 'buts'… It's my house, so it's my rules." Daniel cackled darkly, putting on his best impression of a stereotypical evil villain. Billy chuckled quietly and rolled his crystal blue eyes.

A few minutes passed by and they caught a taxi to carry them back to Daniel's mansion. The sun hung low in the sky, illuminating the sky with a dark crimson and orange tint. Twilight was Daniel's favorite time of day…

"So, how was dinner with the Wests?" Billy asked cautiously, keeping his curious eyes out of the window to watch as the buildings flew past. Daniel took a breath and rolled his eyes, forcefully pushing memories of the night into the back of his head.

"How'd you _think_ it went?" Daniel asked, with clear irritation escaping in his voice. Daniel turned to look away from Billy and calm himself by staring out of the window at the passing pedestrians…

"Well, I know that you and Detective West have some… History…" Billy started, uncomfortably wishing that he hadn't brought up the subject. Getting on Daniel's bad side didn't typically end well. "But that was a few years ago so…"

"It doesn't mean that it didn't happen." Daniel cut him off harshly, unintentionally causing Billy to sink back in his seat. "I didn't want Barry to be upset so I had to pretend like it was all okay… Like what West did in the past didn't matter…"

Billy decided to stay silent, and the taxi fell into a thick silence. Daniel couldn't help but to contemplate the _hatred_ that he felt for the head of the West house… If only he didn't exist, Daniel would have been able to see Barry more…

If only Detective West didn't adopt Barry instead of them both…

If only Detective West had been shot by Clyde Mardon instead of his partner…

If only Detective West hadn't been the officer on parole on the day that he almost beat that kid to death…

Daniel silently basked in his hatred and couldn't help but to remember the last time he saw the man that had adopted Barry, about 7 years ago…

 **March 2009**

The interrogation room atmosphere was tense; almost suffocating. Extremely dark eyes met with emotionless ocean blue, and they clashed ferociously.

Even though he'd seen this boy countless times: even having pictures with him as a newborn; Joe West barely recognized the person sitting in front of him. And he _definitely_ didn't like what he was seeing… Joe sighed and examined the clothing of the young prisoner.

A scarlet T-Shirt, obviously displaying patches of crimson liquid, even despite the dark color of the material. The shirt was covered over with a blue jeans jacket that had more…. _Obvious_ signs of blood. If Joe hadn't been briefed beforehand about the situation, he would have been certain that this was a murder case.

On an ordinary day, patrolling Windsor Heights Elementary wasn't anything strange… It was a private school for the rich kids in Central City, so there weren't really any confrontations. However, today had to be the day when Joe West was on patrol, and all-hell broke loose.

Joe had been on the other side of the school at the time, but he could hear the screams of panic and fear all the way from the opposing end. By the time Joe managed to get to the scene of the incident, the two eight-year-olds had already been separated, and it was painfully obvious to see who was the victim…

The dark haired kid was lying on the cold concrete floor with a huge gash in his temple. His entire face was bloodied and unrecognizable, and the boy's breathing was obviously labored. Several teachers were supporting the boy, and another teacher was calling the ambulance.

However, no matter how shocked Joe was when he saw the condition of the victim, he was ten times more shocked when he saw the offender.

"Daniel…?"

Somehow the blonde had heard him and turned to face him; Daniel's _artic_ blue eyes meeting with Joe's for the first time in years. Crimson blood had been smeared all over Daniel's face and his clothes, and it hadn't even looked like he noticed it… He looked like a rabid animal…

Barry wouldn't be happy, but Joe had to arrest him. For the entire ride and later on throughout the questioning, Daniel kept insisting that the other boy deserved it, and that he told the boy to stop speaking about his parents. When asked to describe the event in detail, Daniel told them in an emotionless tone that the boy had been bullying him for weeks.

On that particular day, the bully had touched on a very, _very_ sensitive subject… Daniel's parents. According to Daniel, the boy had accused him of lying about the man in the lightning bolt killing his parents, and said that they probably deserved it.

That was when Daniel said that he lost control of himself. He described in fine detail about how he had attempted to strangle the bully first, but failed due to victim being physically bigger then him… About how he then balled his hands into fists and knocked bully into the lockers and bashed his head into the walls, before jumping on him and repeatedly punching him across the face; even when he was clearly unconscious and bleeding…

About how he wasn't really sorry for what he did…

That was what Joe managed to get out of him after several hours and now they were sat opposing each other across a metal table; eyes interlocked. Daniel's face had been cleaned up, but the feral glare was still dormant behind his blank eyes…

"This interview is done… You'll be free to go shortly." Joe said professionally, pushing back all of his own personal thoughts on the matter. Even despite Joe pushing back his own personal issues, Daniel could still hear the distaste that was in Joe's voice.

It was only a few moments ago that Joe got a text from Captain Singh that the case was being discontinued. The mother of the victim decided not to press charges, which would mean that this entire situation was now null. Daniel Allen almost killed a kid with his bare hands and was being let out with no consequences…

Daniel nodded his head slowly, before looking away and at the one-way-mirror. He'd seen enough crime shows to know that there were probably people behind that glass, watching all of his movements. He knew that Harrison was probably behind there, and he silently bit his tongue.

"Detective West…" Daniel said absentmindedly, his voice high pitched and innocent, with a hint of worry behind it. Joe linked his fingers together and stared at the eight-year-old for a few moments, before narrowing his eyes and watching as the blonde turned back to face him.

"Where's Barry? Does he know what happened?" Daniel asked, the feral look behind his eyes fading away as if it wasn't there in the first place. The emotionless that had been carried through the entire interview was gone, replaced with something akin to realization.

Joe took a deep inhalation and turned to face the fake mirror, contemplating how much what he was going to say next was going to hurt the boy… However, Joe had to make the best decision to protect his family.

"No, Barry doesn't know _yet_. It would break his heart to know that his brother did something so… _Animalistic_." Joe said simply, turning his attention back to Daniel, who was sitting anxiously in his seat. The small boy's face slowly went a shade darker and he clenched his fists into small balls.

"When can I see Barry again… I really need to see him…" Daniel replied swiftly, his eyes watering and his cheeks stinging red. Joe's eyes narrowed considerably. Just a few minutes ago, he couldn't get a single emotion out of this kid, and now he was on the verge of crying?

"I'm sorry to say this kid, but you won't be seeing Barry for a while…" Joe informed Daniel firmly, not even bothering to see the boy's reaction. Joe stood up from his seat and turned his back to the boy, firm in his decision.

"Mr. West… I'm sorry… I didn't mean the things that I did! Please! Let me talk to Barry!" Daniel went on and on, the tears already running down his rose red cheeks. Joe's heart fell into the pits of his stomach and he even considered it for a minute.

Eventually, Joe came to a decision…

"You won't be seeing Barry until I see that you are no longer a threat to me and my family." Joe said finally while opening the door to the interrogation room with swiftness. No matter how hard he would later try, Joe wouldn't be able to get the next few minutes of screaming out of his head…

Nor could he ever forget the feral look that Daniel had sent him before he closed the interrogation door…

The eyes of heartbreak and a promise of death…

 **Present – Stagg Industries**

"So the plan is in effect?"

Simon Stagg's chair faced outward to face the city, and his straight face expressed the seriousness that was in his voice. If all went well, he would have exactly what he wanted in little under a week…

A figure stepped out of the shadows in the room, a straight glare piercing holes directly into the back Simon Stagg's chair. Black eyes and short straight black hair decorated the man's face, and the young face only made his aggression look more threatening.

Danton Black.

Previously a bio-geneticist who had worked with therapeutic cloning systems and cellular regeneration in Stagg Industries. When Danton was on the verge of his scientific breakthrough, Simon fired him and took all the credit for his work, leaving him with nothing.

The entire reason that Danton had been working at Stagg Industries was so that he could have a chance to save his dying wife. However, now that he was discredited and kicked out of his job, he wouldn't be able to do that…

That was why Danton had decided that he was going to kill Stagg. If Stagg was willing to let his wife die, then Danton was going to have to make him pay with her life…

However, the Particle Accelerator Explosion complicated things… When he woke up after a short coma, Danton found that he had the abilities that he had tried so hard to replicate in his labs… He could generate clones of himself, while also being able to heal every injury to his body!

Unfortunately, that wouldn't have been enough to save his wife anyways, because she was already missing… Taken, actually. Danton would later find out that Stagg took her away, using the woman as a bargaining chip to make Danton his slave.

And it was working.

Danton walked silently into the center of Simon Stagg's office, just as the man himself swiveled around in his chair to look at him. Danton clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, forcing himself to make eye contact with the sick and demented business man.

"The plan is in affect… We should have the Flash in our grasps soon." Danton informed Stagg loudly, making sure that he wouldn't have to repeat himself. Stagg's small, thin smile spread across his face and he cackled loudly.

"Good. Get the Flash for me within the next two weeks and your wife will be fine." Simon Stagg threatened Danton firmly, before shaking his head and turning back to look out the glass window. Danton clenched his fist and his knuckles began to turn white due to the immense pressure.

"You are dismissed…" Simon Stagg waved Danton off, and the black haired meta-human couldn't be more furious in his life. Neither-the-less, Danton turned his head away from Danton and he left the room in silence…

Yes, he would get the Flash for Simon. But after that, Danton was going to tear Stagg's head off of his shoulder and burn what's left. He didn't deserve to be alive…

First, though, he would need to get the Flash. And what's the best way to attract a Superhero?

A bank robbery!


	7. Multiplex

**A Different Kind of Story**

" ** _To conquer fear, you must become fear."_** **– Bruce Wayne**

 **Chapter 7:** Multiplex

 **Abandoned Warehouse – 5 Days Later**

Just as Billy promised, they went back to the hideout later that night; and every day from that point on. It was the perfect place to train their abilities because it was a good distance away from the main city, and it was completely abandoned.

Currently they were trying to make it more safe… It wasn't much out of Daniel's pocket to buy a bunch of locks and a very secure (and expensive) metal door for the entrance. That door was installed earlier in the early morning, and now Daniel was blocking up the large glass windows with broken pieces of metal.

"You know; we should start thinking of a vigilante name for you!" Billy shouted from the other end of the warehouse; a mouth full of Cheetos forcing Daniel to piece together the broken language that came out of Billy's stuffed mouth.

It wasn't a problem, though. Daniel was smart enough to piece it together easily, even while he was focusing on how he was going block up the last window. Daniel looked at the pile of metal with a concentrated look on his face.

"Just in case you didn't realize, I'm kind of busy trying to block up the window; which you didn't want to do…" Daniel said, his eyes closing for a few seconds. Just from the looks of it, this pile of scrap metal was going to be the heaviest thing that he would carry with his telekinesis. From the look of it, all of it probably weighed well over 400 pounds.

In the last few days, Daniel had been focused on increasing his Telekinetic abilities. His other abilities could wait for now. Daniel needed to make his most offensive and defensive ability strong so that he could actually be a vigilante that could actually do something…

"I was thinking something along the lines of Brainiac!" Billy shouted across the room, before turning back to complete his job. He sat down cross-legged in front of the power generator that powered the whole warehouse, trying to figure out how to get it back working.

The only ability that Billy was currently using was his Extreme Intelligence, and he was close to finally fixing the power. Despite his intelligence levels being over some of the highest level intellects on the earth while in this form, Daniel was still above him in intelligence.

Over the past few days, Billy and Daniel realized that Daniel's hyper intelligence was likely because of the Dark Matter from the Particle Accelerator leaking into his head-wound when the lightning struck Daniel and Barry.

Not only that, but they realized that Daniel intelligence drew on all of the knowledge that Daniel learned through the years, and what he was still learning. Knowledge that Daniel might have remembered learning and things that he wouldn't have remembered if he wasn't struck by lightning.

One of the incredible displays of Daniel's intelligence that Billy saw was when Daniel recreated some elemental gun from STAR Labs. Daniel told Billy that he saw the gun once before, and that he was shown the blueprints once; and Billy was inclined to believe him because when he accused Daniel of bluffing, Daniel built it right in front of his eyes.

"It's pretty simple once you get past the basic template of the metal…" He remembered Daniel saying, as he grabbed random pieces of metal from around the room and melded them into appropriate shapes with his telekinesis.

It had taken little under an hour for Daniel to construct the entire structure, minus the clear containment cylinder that Daniel said was crucial before they could move on. That wasn't the part that had amazed Billy, per say, but rather the explanation about how the elements were going to be made into fuel for the gun; and the little time it took Daniel to make.

The gun had originally been made as a cryonic gun, but Daniel had ideas for the gun. When he found out the elemental composition to make other things, like tar for example, he would be able to make a gun that could fire an extremely sticky liquid to trap people.

In theory, Daniel would also be able to make grenades inspired by the gun, with almost the same function, except for the fact that they would explode and release the element. Daniel had even written out the design for the futuristic grenade, but he didn't go any further, deciding that he wanted to learn how to control his other abilities so that he wouldn't have to rely on his weapons.

The only thing that Daniel actually wanted to make was an armor set. However, he kept complaining about the quality of the metal that was at the factory. Daniel wanted high-end materials, which he knew would look _way_ too suspicious coming from his bank account.

Daniel already had a full out design and blueprints of the armor set, which were currently being put on the side until they found out how they would get the materials. Just in case, Daniel made a prototype lower mouth guard made of steel, which covered the entirety of his lower face with an _almost_ perfect fit. It was originally steel silver, but Billy painted it over in black for Daniel, as well as poking two nose holes so that Daniel could breath.

In the last few days, Daniel's abilities with his Telekinesis increased dramatically. While Billy was also training each of his abilities, Daniel would be off in the corner, trying out different things with his Telekinesis.

Shooting the wall with tiny telekinetic bullets.

Crushing soda cans.

Lifting large and heavy objects.

Cutting lines into walls with Telekinetic blades.

Creating Telekinetic armor… Even though he couldn't keep it strong around the entirety of his body.

Whenever he felt himself starting to lose consciousness, or blood started to leak down his nose, he would stop and rest until he felt fine. This was a successful technique to increase Daniel's abilities, and to put it in gaming terminology, Daniel and Billy were currently 'grinding'.

"Brainiac sucks! Plus, it's probably already taken!" Daniel shouted back to Billy, while he prepared to lift the pile of metal into the air. Billy rolled his eyes and chuckled, turning back to place the last piece of metal into the power generator.

Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he reopened his eyelids, instead of being their classic blue, his iris rolled away into a murky translucent white. Daniel brought both of his hands out in front of his body and slowly began to clench his open palm.

He didn't _need_ to use his arms to guide his Telekinesis, but it helped in some cases. Like these… Daniel slowly began to lift the large pieces of scrap metal into the air, the unbearable screeching sound of the metal scratching the ground filling the warehouse. Daniel lifted his arms into the air and the metal went higher and higher in the air.

5 feet… 10 feet… 15 feet… 35 feet….

"Ughh…"

Daniel's head began to pound and he released a gasp that he didn't know that he was holding. He couldn't tell if the liquid dripping down his face was sweat or crimson blood, and Daniel wasn't sure if he wanted to find out…

Slowly, Daniel shifted the first batch of metal over half of the window, and once it was covering half, Daniel turned his hands inward. The edges of the metal twisted into the direction of the wall, every edge of the metal curving into a sharp 90-degree angle. Daniel pushed the metal into the wall and it engraved itself, easily covering half of the large panel window securely.

Could he finish the other half of the window _now_?

Daniel didn't realize it before, but suddenly he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. It felt like his brain was going to pop out of his head, and he found himself hyperventilating loudly. Sweat beads rolled down his face like a faucet, intertwining with the blood that began to steadily flow down from his nose.

The sound of metal colliding with the ground was sudden and violent, tearing through the air like sound blades. Daniel didn't even realize that he stopped manipulating the scrap metal pieces, or that it had been falling down at him at incredible speeds.

Daniel was snapped back into reality with Billy standing over him with an extremely worried expression on his face. Daniel could barely see Billy, but he could see the shapes and colors that the sweat rolling down his eyes let him see. Billy's red sweater was the brightest thing, and it ended up being the thing that Daniel stared out to stay conscious.

Billy shook his head and gulped, looking back at the area where Daniel was previously standing. The scrap metal had fallen directly onto that spot, and if Billy hadn't tapped into his Speed and saved Daniel, his best-friend would have been a mushed puddle of blood and guts.

"Idiot! If I wasn't watching out for you, you would be dead!" Billy shouted down at Daniel, who had been laid out on the floor after Billy scooped him up. Daniel groaned and lifted his right arm to wipe the sweat from his eyes weakly.

It was clear to Billy that Daniel didn't hear him, due to the overexertion of his powers. Daniel's eyes rolled back to their cerulean blue, and he closed his eyes, his facial expressions melting into a peaceful sleep.

Billy took a deep breath and rolled his eyes at Daniel's recklessness. Billy wiped the blood and perspiration from Daniel's face, before he lifted Daniel onto his shoulders carefully. A smile of relief was plastered onto Billy's face, and he tapped into his super strength so that he could carry the heavy teenager over to the West's house with ease.

"You definitely owe me one…"

 **Stagg Industries**

"This was quicker then anticipated..."

Simon Stagg sat back in his office chair, smugly watching as three figures entered into his office. It wasn't hard for Stagg to identify each of the men; mainly because he was the one that hired them all. Mick Rory, Leonard Snart and Danton Black; the latter being a Meta-human. Simon had blackmail material on Danton and Snart, which was all that was needed. Rory was in it for the money...

"I gave you two weeks and you're ready to go after the Speedster in five days. You two must be desperate." Stagg trailed smugly; just as he made direct eye contact with Danton and Leonard. The pure fiery fury behind Danton's eyes was clear to see, and Stagg watching it. As long as he got what he wanted in the end; The Flash...

"Do you have our equipment, _Stagg_?" Danton spat out venomously, his charcoal eyes locking in with Stagg's, who nodded his head and smiled for a brief second. With one swipe of his hand, two workers wearing Stagg Industry uniforms walked into the room; each with a suitcase in their hands.

The workers scurried over to Stagg and Mick, handing them a suitcase each, before leaving the room as quickly as they came in. Stagg watched as Leonard narrowed his eyes at the suitcases, before he turned back to Stagg with his cold calculated eyes.

"And where is the weapon that I requested?" Leonard asked Stagg with a gripping confidence. Stagg took a breath and sat further back in his chair while crossing his arms. The weapon was proving more difficult than anticipated, and STAR Labs happened to be more guarded then they thought. However, it was crucial if they were going to have the Flash in their grasps soon.

"I'm working on it..." Stagg replied casually, his shifty eyes returning back to Danton. The scientist rocked on his heel, and his fingers curled into fists. It was obvious that he was ready to get out of the room and to the objective. Stagg sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So, what's the plan?"

 **West House - Later**

"Hmm... So _this_ is where you hide away at night!" Cisco's bubbly voice broke the silence of the household, echoing up the stairs and into every bedroom. Cisco stepped into the house carefully, followed by an interested Barry who's eyes didn't break from Cisco's back.

"It has a interesting smell! Almost like a mixture between pine cones and... Pizza?" Cisco analysed with raised eyebrows, before turning around to see Barry's curious grin.

"Well, we _did_ have some delicious pizza last night." Barry replied to Cisco, before walking further into the house and straight towards the kitchen. Once he got there, Barry quickly scurried the fridge and took out two soda cans; one for him and the other for Cisco.

By the time Barry got out of the fridge, Cisco was already snooping around in the kitchen, mainly spinning around on the bar stools. Barry looked down at the soda can in his hand and then back up at his friend.

"Is Cherry flavor okay?" Barry asked the spinning STAR Labs employee, who stopped for a split second to recognize what Barry had to say.

"Cherry is _perfect_!"

Barry slid the can across the table right into Cisco's hands. Cisco opened it and gobbled the soda down with ease, while Barry walked over to the television and switched it on. Barry got onto his knees and opened the wooden shelf to retrieve his PS4 from inside, but before he could go any further, Cisco's voice popped up behind him.

"Hmm, for the fastest man alive, I would have thought that you would have the faster console." Cisco pointed out smoothly, prompting Barry to roll his eyes and plug up the PS4. While he did, Cisco pulled out a bag of Cheese Puffs from his side-bag and began munching down.

"Hey, why don't you use your super speed to set it up?" Cisco inquired, interestingly watching his friend set up the gaming console at normal pace.

"Because Daniel's upstairs sleeping and if he comes down..." Barry replied casually, guiltily looking back at Cisco who bit the corner of his mouth. They shared a moment of silence and linked understanding before Cisco broke the silence.

"You know..." Cisco whispered softly, leaning forward from his seat on the couch, "... If your bro _is_ a meta-human, wouldn't it be cool if we could find out where exactly he is in the morality area? You know, so that he doesn't becomes like Nimbus and Weather Wizard..."

Barry sighed and leaned towards Cisco to minimize how loud he would have to be when he spoke. "And how are we going to do that without revealing that I'm the Flash?" Barry inquired with an interested smile spreading on his face.

Cisco's face lit up and a huge infectious grin spread across his face.

"That's the fun part."

 **Later The Same Day - West House**

"How was your sleep, Danny?" Barry's voice boomed from inside of the living room, catching the newly-awakened Daniel's attention with ease. The messy haired blonde groaned and stuck his head out of the kitchen door, and he quickly scanned to look for Cisco and Barry.

It didn't take him long to find the two friends, because they were both sitting silently on the couch with folded arms and bright, smiling faces. Daniel raised an eyebrow and looked over at the TV, trying to figure out if they had been watching the television, but he soon realized that they hadn't been.

"Uh... Yeah, my sleep was alright." Daniel replied with narrowed eyebrows, before he returned into the kitchen to fetch himself some cookies. They were obviously acting strange but Daniel chose to ignore it, much more preferring to find his cookies and milk.

Unfortunately for Daniel, when he finally poured the milk out and got himself a fresh plate of chocolate chip cookies, he found himself trapped in the kitchen by Barry and Cisco who were standing in the hallway. Daniel looked up from the floor and narrowed his eyebrows even more, his facial expressions clearly displaying the concern that he was feeling.

"You guys are acting weir-" Daniel was interrupted suddenly by Cisco clearing his throat extremely loudly and overpowering the teen's voice. Daniel took a deep breath to calm the slight irritation that he could feel brewing.

"So Daniel, me and Barry wanted to ask you a few question." Cisco stated forwardly, quickly dispelling the irritation that Daniel felt. The blonde teenager carefully put his cookies down on the table and turned back to face the two smiling adults that were staring at him.

Daniel's heart began to pound in his chest, as he thought of the possibilities of what his brother and the little goof ball from Star Labs wanted to question him about. They couldn't have seen him and Billy training right? No, it couldn't be that. Or maybe they were really awake the other night when he was experimenting with his powers?

The more Daniel thought about that possibility, the more he realized that it was less likely to be true. If it was something about them finding out that Daniel was a meta, they wouldn't be so bright faced and jolly. Most likely, it had to do with something else. Maybe the school incident?

"Is it about the school?" Daniel asked, being extra careful to sound calm and not shaky. Daniel scanned back up and made eye contact with Barry, who signaled for his brother to take a seat on one of the bar stools. It didn't take Daniel much longer then a second to scramble onto the seat and sit uncomfortably under the glare of the two adults.

"It's partly about the school. It's also about the coma and about your reaction when you woke up... And the Meta-Humans." Barry confirmed with a smile, while he also took a seat on the opposite end of the kitchen island. He must have noticed the slight confusion in Daniel's eyes, because Barry went on to explain further. "It's for Iris's next article for the newspaper."

"Oh." Daniel said absentmindedly, feeling a huge weight lift from his shoulders. "Well then fire away."

Daniel watched silently as Cisco took a seat next to him on a bar stool and pulled out a journal-type book. Barry's smile fell into a mildly interested smirk, while Cisco was still buzzing. Daniel sighed and leaned back uncomfortably, awkwardly placing the arm which was in the sling onto the counter.

"First question..." Barry started, taking the book and a pen from Cisco. "What do you feel about the Meta-humans created from the particle accelerator explosion?" Barry inquired, taking his eyes off of Daniel and down to the paper.

"In my opinion, the Meta-Humans are mistreated and contrary to the rumors going around, not all of them are evil." Daniel replied in a professional manor, sitting up in his seat. Barry began write down Daniel's answer and Cisco pulled out a spare book and another pen.

"And why would you say that? There have been several meta-human threats in the last few months, one even directly aimed at you. Only one Meta-Human appears to be good." Cisco added with an interested glistening in his eyes.

"Well... Because of that one _good_ Meta-human, it would be wrong to write off the entire species as evil." Daniel replied confidently, watching patiently as Cisco dropped his head back down to his own book to write down what Daniel said.

"Have you heard about the reports of the Flash?" Barry asked, bringing back the attention to him. Daniel turned his head and nodded his head at the question. Barry smiled brightly and prepared to write down the next answer. "What do you think about the Flash?"

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his feet for a few moments. Speaking truthfully, he hadn't looked into the super speeding Meta-Human as much as anyone else, but he heard from Billy and other sources that he was some sort of hero that ran around town stopping crime. He also heard that the Flash had been at the school when he was attacked by Alex Merkel.

"I don't know much about him but it's very clear that he's protecting the city..." Daniel said quite confidently, causing Barry's lips to twist upward into a happy grin. "... Or you know, that's what he wants everyone to think."

Barry's smile dropped from his face and he was left with a slightly agape expression. Cisco looked at Barry and folded his lips into his mouth, giving Barry an uncertain look, before turning back to Daniel to continue the questioning.

"Uh... Next question." Cisco continued, going through a few more questions about what Daniel felt when he woke up 9 months after being stuck by lightning. Eventually, he got to the topic of the Particle Accelerator. "Do you know why the rumors about you causing the Particle Accelerator explosion are spreading?"

Daniel took a deep breath and rolled his eyes to the side at his lonely plate of cookies. "Some incompetent people decided that they wanted to put a blame on someone for the Particle Accelerator explosion." Daniel ventured with an annoyed tone carried in his voice.

"Is that an official statement saying that you didn't tamper with the Accelerator?" Cisco asked quickly, already knowing the answer.

"Of course. As I said, it was just a group of people that want to put the blame on someone." Daniel repeated with confidence, turning his head away from the eyes of Cisco and back to his older brother.

"What do you think about Harrison Wells decision to throw thousands of dollars at the rebuilding of Central City High when STAR Labs is knee deep in dept?" Barry stepped back in, asking the most thought provoking question of the whole questioning session. Daniel sat back and crossed his free arm into his sling.

"I support his decision. After all, if I wasn't at the school when Alex Merkel came for me, then the school wouldn't have been destroyed." Daniel answered truthfully, not even slightly bothered by the question. "I offered to pull some of the money from my own bank accounts but he refused."

Barry nodded with a proud smile spreading on his face. Barry wrote down the answer and opened his mouth to ask another question, but before he could, Cisco and Barry's phone blew up with noise, a blazing alarm ripping through the room.

Daniel groaned and put his free hand up to cover his ear. Unfortunately, the other ear was left uncovered and victim to the alarm because he couldn't give up the fact that his arm wasn't really broken. Noise filled Daniel's ears and he watched Cisco and Barry swiftly pull out their phones and scan over the alert.

After that point, both of them jumped out of their seats and headed towards the couch extremely swiftly. The alarm switched off after awhile and Daniel groaned in annoyance, before jumping out of his seat and following Barry and Cisco into the living room. When Daniel got into the living room, he saw the two friends rushing around to pick up their separate jackets and then head straight for the door.

"Guys?" Daniel called out loudly, his bewildered cerulean eyes locked onto his retreating brother's back. As Barry swiftly threw his jacket back onto his back and Cisco opened the door, Barry quickly turned around and met eyes with Daniel.

"I'm so sorry! There's a robbery at the Central City bank and all available officers need to get down there immediately!" Barry told Daniel urgently, giving his little brother an apologetic smile before he stepped out of the door. "When it's all over, I'll swing over to Dr. Wells house and I'll take you out for some dinner! Promise!"

And with those last words, Barry closed the door and let the house fall into a thick silence. Daniel stared at the front door with a blank expression, his creamy skin quickly changing into a redder shade. His lips tightened against each other and he tightened his fist.

"Deep breaths..." Daniel repeated to himself, un-tightening his fist and inhaling deeply. After a few seconds of holding, Daniel exhaled slowly and soon enough, his skin returned back to it's ordinary color, and he sighed.

"Now, how am I going to get to Central City Bank.." Daniel pondered aloud, quickly turning his attention to the Television.

 **Central City Bank**

 _'Barry! There are multiple armed robbers and they took hostages! Be careful!'_

Caitlin's voice blasted through the Flash's earpieces as he blazed through the streets, arcs of golden lightning exploding in every direction behind him. The Flash sped through the streets and skidded into the scene, right in front of a squad of police cars; not before snatching a megaphone from the nearest cop. All of them lowered there weapons when they saw the scarlet speedster standing confidently opposing the bank.

" _This is the Flash!_ " The Flash's distorted vibrated voice blasted through the megaphone, easily loud enough to reach the entire bank. The crowds outside fell silent at the voice of their savior, and they stared in awe. " _Let the hostages go and surrender yourselves!_ "

Everything fell into silence after that point, leaving everyone in suspense. The air was thick with silence, and the sound of mini-lightning arches bouncing across the Flash's suit, creating a low hissing. The police officers began to murmur between themselves, and soon enough, the sound of static filled the air.

"Hello, Flash. I've been expecting you." A booming voice exploded from inside of the bank, startling everyone on the outside. It sounded strange, as if multiple voices were all rolled into one giant chorus. "All of the hostages are already far away from here. They were moved the moment I got here."

As soon as that was said, the lightning arching from the Flash exploded outwards and he sped into Central City blank at insane speeds, startling the people watching from the outside. Unfortunately, as the mysterious man said, when Barry got into the main lobby of the bank, everyone was gone.

In the middle of the room stood a single man. He was wearing tight fitted charcoal trousers, a long sleeve black T-Shirt, and his face was completely covered by a mask. The most interesting part of the suit was the glowing rectangular designs that ran up the center of the shirt and down the legs of the trouser.

" _Where are the hostages?"_ The Flash asked the man at the center of the room, his vibrating voice vibrating through around the room. The man pivoted to face the Flash head on, making it easy for the Flash to see the tranquilizer gun in the man's grip. Through the mask, Barry narrowed his eyes at the gun, and then he looked back at the man.

"The hostages are safe." The masked robber declared, staring directly at the Flash while his finger caressed the trigger of the tranquilizer. "They were only a calling signal." The masked man revealed calmly. Barry's eyes flashed downwards at the rectangular designs on the man's suit as they suddenly lit up with blinding cerulean colors.

" _For who?_ " The Flash asked the man in response, before it all clicked in his head. It didn't take a genius to realize that they were going after him. But maybe if he stall-

CLICK!

The sound of the safety of a gun being unlocked was very clear and distinctive. The Flash turned his head at superhuman speed and managed to side step out of the way from a flying bullet released from the gun of another person. As the bullet flew by his arm, The Flash analysed the man that fired at him and was shocked at what he saw.

 _'They're the same person! He multiplied.'_ Cisco's voice came through the comms, confirming the Flash's suspicions. Barry quickly dashed over to the man holding the gun and snatched the gun from his hand. With one well landed punch to the temple, the Flash sent the suited man to the ground.

The Flash turned around to the sight of a room filled with dozens of men... Or well, copies of the man that the Flash originally encountered. All of them wore the midnight black suit with the glowing rectangular designs, and worst thing about it...

' _They all have tranq's, Barry! They're trying to capture you!_ '

Through the cowl, Barry's eyes lit up with lightning and he gritted his teeth, before bursting into action. The Flash tore through the first few clones with ease, as he knocked them out with wide swings at super speed. However, the more clones that he took out, the more appeared to pop out of the unconscious bodies.

" _GUYS! What should I do?! They're overwhelming me!"_ The Flash blurted into the mics, with the only response being static. The Flash gritted his teeth and sped through another group of clones, sending them all to the ground. When he managed to get through the group, the Flash skidded to a stop on the other side of the bank, and stared at the uncountable amount of clones sprawled out on the floor. Slowly, they all began to split into separate copies, and they all stood up tall with smug expression on their faces.

"You think the people that hired me would do a half-ass job?" All of the voices spoke in union, filling the entire bank and outside with the voice of the clones. "You're friend at STAR Labs were taken, Flash. But you'll be with them soon enough."

Barry ground his teeth together roughly, and his eye flashed with lightning violently. His team... They were in danger and he couldn't help them! The lightning that flashed in Barry's eyes lashed outwards, coursing behind him, joining the rest of the golden arcs. His fingers curled into fists and his body began to vibrate violently, cracking the ground beneath the Flash's feet with ease, and sending cracks across the floor.

" _You're going to give me back my friends..._ " The Flash barked through his teeth, his voice amplified even further by his speed. The Flash crouched down low and narrowed his eyes at the smirking clones in front of him, and the worry for his friends filled his very being.

"You're going to have to go right through us!" The clones bellowed in unison, and they all reached forward and signaled for the Flash to come at him. The Flash took the opportunity and blitzed through the room, running a circle around the entire group of clones at incredible speeds, lightning and wind wrapping around them in a thick gust.

" _Just... A... Little... More!_ " The Flash's intense and strained voice spread through the room as the wind and lightning whipped around the room violently, scorching the walls and ripping apart the floor. Slowly, the continuous circular rotation forced the air where the clones were to spiral upwards and outwards.

"Arghh!"

Soon enough, the clones were being thrown against each other at insane speeds, and the air in the room began to drain away from the circle. The Flash kept going for the next few moments until all of the clones were on the floor or unconscious, before he skidded to a stop. Barry put both of his hands on his hips and panted loudly, the loss of breath forcing him to wheeze.

"You thought it would be _that_ easy?"

Before the Flash could turn around, a seering pain exploded from his right leg. Barry howled in pain and dropped to his knees instantaneously, scrambling to reach for his leg that was pouring with blood. Flash barely managed to look down at his leg, as his eyes became foggy and he became short breathed. A bloody, circular hole in Barry's leg was very clearly distinguished and Barry trembled at the wound.

The man stood over the Flash and stared down at him, and Flash could have sworn that he could see a smug grin behind his mask. Barry's vision slowly began to fade and the robber pointed his tranquilizer down at Barry's chest. Barry wheezed in pain, and he glared upwards at the figure.

"And to think that we would capture you so easily... I didn't even need the other two." The figure bragged.

"Who... Are... You?" Flash managed to croak out, while he stared up at the man hopelessly. Said criminal grinned behind his mask and brought his finger down to the trigger, and the rectangular on his chest lit up brightly.

"Call me... Multiplex." Multiplex revealed, before he flicked his finger and pulled the trigger...

* * *

 **HAHAHA! Sorry this chapter took so long to come out! How'd you enjoy it? And just so you guys ain't confused, Barry and Cisco's way to figure out if Daniel was swaying further to the dark or the light was by mixing some of their own questions in with Iris's.**


	8. Blackmail

**A Different Kind of Story**

 _ **"He who angers you controls you."**_

 ** _Chapter 8:_**

 **Previously:**

 _"You thought it would be that easy?"_

 _Before the Flash could turn around, a searing pain exploded from his right leg. Barry howled in pain and dropped to his knees instantaneously, scrambling to reach for his leg that was pouring with blood. Flash barely managed to look down at his leg, as his eyes became foggy and he became short breathed. A bloody, circular hole in Barry's leg was very clearly distinguished and Barry trembled at the wound._

 _The man stood over the Flash and stared down at him, and Flash could have sworn that he could see a smug grin behind his mask. Barry's vision slowly began to fade and the robber pointed his tranquilizer down at Barry's chest. Barry wheezed in pain, and he glared upwards at the figure._

 _"And to think that we would capture you so easily... I didn't even need the other two." The figure bragged._

 _"Who... Are... You?" Flash managed to croak out, while he stared up at the man hopelessly. Said criminal grinned behind his mask and brought his finger down to the trigger, and the rectangular on his chest lit up brightly._

 _"Call me... Multiplex." Multiplex revealed, before he flicked his finger and pulled the trigger..._

 **Now:**

Barry watched in slow motion as the tranquilizer dart came flying towards him, and he hopelessly gritted his teeth. The tranquilizer was going to hit him and he couldn't do anything about it. Whoever this Multiplex guy was, he took Cisco and Caitlin, and maybe even Doctor Wells, and now they were going to take him too.

"What the hell?" Multiplex exclaimed loudly, snapping Barry out of his self loathing. It was only then that Barry realized that he hadn't been watching the tranquilizer moving in slow motion, but instead, the tranquilizer bullet was _slowing_ down. Barry turned his head the exact moment that Multiplex did, and they both saw a lone figure standing at the entrance of the bank.

The figure was clothed in an all black leather jacket, black tracksuits and black goggles. The most intriguing thing about the uniform was the completely tinted out ski-goggles and a midnight half-mask that completely covered the bottom half of his face. Strands of blonde hair peeked from below the hood that was flipped over the figure's head.

Before he could further analyse the situation, the Flash staggered up and took the moment of surprise to sucker punch Multiplex in the jaw, sending him staggering backwards. However, Barry accidentally stepped on the leg with the bullet hole and he shrieked loudly, as pain coursed through his entire body. He fell back down to the floor as quickly as he got up as the realization that the wound was a lot worst then he originally thought it was.

"I don't know who your friend is Flash, but it looks like he wants to come along too." Multiplex scoffed in arrogance, before pointing the tranquilizer back up at the goggled figure standing at the entrance. Said figure looked down at the Flash with an unrecognizable expression, seeing as it was all hidden by his face-armor. The Flash turned his head and made eye contact with the figure, his bright green eyes clashing with the tinted googles.

 _'I'm going to need your help to defeat this guy...' _ An unrecognizable voice echoed in the Flash's head, causing him to narrow his eyebrows barely, despite the pain. ' _This is a mental connection. Do you think you can run?'_ The voice asked the Flash, who nodded in response, albeit unsure.

' _Run when I tell you._ ' The voice commanded Barry, who helplessly nodded. The goggled person broke eye contact with the Flash, who felt something in his head fizzle away. The goggled figure cloaked in black turned back to face Multiplex, his hands still at his side.

"Neither of us are going anywhere with you, Multiplex." The muffled voice of the goggled person told Multiplex, before raising his hands up to either side of his body. Both of his arms were pointed at opposite walls and the boy took a deep breath, before clenching both of his fists.

Multiple tiles on the floor were forcibly ripped from the ground, and before Multiplex could react, several tiles slammed into his torso at high speeds, shattering upon contact and sending Multiplex flying backwards and into the nearest wall, cracking the wall under the force.

' _NOW!'_

Barry heard the voice come back and he stumbled up to his feet in a matter of seconds, before preparing to run. Could he leave the person that just saved him that easily? Barry, for the first time since he first entered the room, took a glance around the room...

"T-They...!" The Flash gasped loudly, partly to the pain and also partly to the shock. He could see a number of the clones standing up from their unconsciousness, as they woke up and were ready to fight again. One thought became sure...

He needed to get out of there.

' _I SAID NOW!_ '

The urgent voice shocked the Flash back into action, and he kicked off the floor with increased vigor, sending himself barreling out of the door at super speeds, golden lightning arching off of his body and around the room, lighting up the room with a golden tint. The goggled figures eyes widened behind the coverings, as the flashes of lightning dug up a memory buried deep in his subconscious.

* * *

 _"Mommy!" Daniel called out the moment that they reached the entrance to the living room. Barry quickly covered his own eyes with his free arm, the onslaught of red and golden lightning easily became too much for him. With the hand that he was using to hold Daniel's hand, Barry pushed his younger brother behind his back, where Daniel then latched onto Barry's leg._

 _Nora Allen was on her knees in the middle of a tornado of discolored lightning, a waterfall of tears pouring down her face. Nora reached forward with her right hand outstretched towards her family. The pure distraught on her face was obvious, and it was mirrored on both of her son's faces._

 _"Barry! Daniel! Run!" The father of the two bellowed through the noise, turning his attention to his children. The terror was obvious on his face, and that only made Barry and Daniel quiver uncontrollably. It took a few moments, but the older of the two siblings finally managed to snap out of his stupor, both of his arms quickly moving to wrap around his brother's shoulders._

 _"We need to go!" Barry ordered his younger brother, who was trembling uncontrollably. The young boy was staring directly into the bustling tornado of lightning, his entire body frozen in terror and confusion._

 _"No! No! We need to save her!" Daniel screamed loudly, visibly over exerting himself to carry the sound around the room. Even after they reached the exit door, Daniel didn't stop screaming and squirming. The two tornadoes of erratic lightning began closing into Nora Allen; arcs of golden and crimson sparks bouncing off of the figures and lashing out at Nora._

 _"NO!"_

* * *

"..."

Daniel, hidden by his suit, bowed his head as the memory fell over him. A sinking feeling a sickness fell over him temporarily, and not just because of his powers. He could hear the footsteps of the police preparing to enter, but none of that mattered... All he could think about was the golden strings of lightning that Central City saw as a sign of protection for their city...

"The Flash... He killed them..." Daniel gasped quietly, the realization of what he just did coming to him. Did he really just help the person that murdered his parents?

All of the Multiplex clones began to stand up and return to the Multiplex that Daniel had defeated. Swiftly, all of the clones were absorbed back into the Multiplex on the wall, and he stood up weakly, clutching his stomach and his ribs in pain. However, the costumed Daniel was already on his way towards the fire exit; not even bothered with Multiplex.

"You've lost." Multiplex declared through his mask, as he watched the goggled vigilante walk towards the fire exit that led to the roof. Multiplex began to chuckle loudly, his loud raspy voice easily carrying itself across the room. The goggled figure didn't even bother to turn around and he went up the fire escape and vanished from Multiplex's sight.

"Stupid kid... It's only just begun..." Multiplex snickered loudly, before his suit began to glow brightly. As the police squad rushed in, the suit grew even more bright and in a bright flash of light, an explosion ripped through the lobby of the bank, ripping it apart from the inside out.

 **STAR LABS**

A streak of lightning ripped into the Cortex, before the Flash skidded to a stop at the center. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he took off his mask and searched around the Cortex for his team. His heart beat increased to an even faster rate then normal, and sweat rolled down his face like an open faucet.

"Caitlin! Cisco!"

Barry sped into each of the separate rooms in the Cortex at super speed. Cisco's play room. Caitlin's office. Dr Wells' office. As Barry checked in every room, he noticed the scattered papers and the flipped over chairs, and the dark pit in his stomach increased. He checked every room in the Cortex and found no-one; so Barry dashed out of the main lobby of he Cortex and headed for the Pipeline; but on his way out he crashed into someone heading in, harshly sending them both sprawling onto the floor.

"Mr. Allen!" Harrison's barking voice echoed through the hallway, snapping Barry out of his intense search for his friends. Barry gasped as he caught his breath, looking down at the floor where Harrison Wells and a full Big Belly Burger meal lay scattered on the ground. The lead scientist growled in annoyance and began to push himself up to his feet.

"I-I'm so sorry, Dr. Wells!" Barry apologized between deep breaths, followed by a deep frown on his face. Barry then proceeded to help Harrison onto his wheelchair, despite the others obvious protesting. Once Harrison was safely in his wheelchair, Dr. Wells narrowed his eyes at the brown haired speedster and cleared his throat.

"You better have a good explanation for this." Dr. Wells said swiftly, the irritation clearly expressed in his tone. His disappointing dark eyes fell down to his delicious Big Belly Burger that was now scattered on the dirty floor; now unfortunately uneatable.

"And you better have some money to buy me a new burger." Harrison added, tearing his view back up to Barry, who shook his head in disbelief. Barry then proceeded to explain what just happened to him at the bank, and about how Cisco and Caitlin were taken by Multiplex and whoever he was working with. By the end of the explanation, the pain from the bullet wound began to creep back up on Barry; and he soon began to feel his vision blotching out.

"We'll get them back, Barry. But first you're going to need to rest up your wound." Dr. Wells proclaimed, while he wheeled over to Barry and tried to push him over to Caitlin's doctor's office. However, Barry shook his head and tried to push past Dr. Wells.

"No. I need to find them first..." Barry said weakly, feeling his strength seeping from him as he tried to walk past Dr. Wells. Unfortunately for Barry, the adrenaline wore off and when he stepped on the wound, he gasped in pain and almost dropped to his knees; if it wasn't for Harrison Wells wrapping his arm around Barry's chest and dragging him half way onto his wheelchair.

"Rest, Barry... You'll need it."

 **Next Morning - STAGG Industries**

"You call that fiasco yesterday a success? Maybe you're more demented then last time I saw you." Simon Stagg snarled loudly, filling his office with a bad vibe. He glared at the three people standing in front of him, as they all looked at him with different views on their faces.

Leonard Snart with his nonchalant, unemotional glare.

Mick Rory with his unconcerned and clearly uninterested glancing into nothingness.

Danton Black with his beady black eyes, with a promise of a violent death hidden behind them.

"Yes, Stagg. This _was_ a success." Danton hissed in anger, stepping forward toward Stagg's desk with papers in his hand. Stagg glared at the dark haired man and crossed his arms across his chest; thinking about all of the ways he was planning to destroy Danton's world.

"We have the Flash in our grips..." Leonard spoke up, stepping forward and taking a slow breath as the attention fell on him. "While Danton was distracting the Flash, Mick and I kidnapped the last two employees in STAR Labs. We have his friends. When we're prepared, all we have to do is cause a ruckus and he'll come running..."

This peaked Stagg's attention, and after a few moments, Stagg's lips twisted upwards into a grin. "Smart; that means you have bait. Good." Stagg replied with interest while he leaned back on his chair and watched the three men. "I'm assuming you got the weapon you desired from STAR Labs?" Stagg asked Snart, who nodded his head in response.

"Not only did we get the Cold Gun, but we also got a few more things that might be of interest to you." Snart replied casually, before looking over at Danton with a blank expression. Danton looked back at Snart and nodded, before stepping towards Stagg's desk and placing the papers that were in his hand down in front of Stagg.

Stagg rolled his eyes and picked up the stack of papers on the table with a sour expression on his face. After all, what could he _possibly_ learn from STAR Labs? They were the failures of the Science industry after the Particle Accelerator incident, and almost all of their previous workers drained over to Stagg Industries a short time after the explosion.

However, as Stagg looked over the papers, he realized that it didn't have to do with any of STAR Labs recent discoveries, but instead it was a report. Multiple reports that spanned over the course of 9 months. Brain scans, blood checks, and every exam that could be given through a doctor's examination. In the end, Stagg's eyes widened at the final doctor's note.

 _It appears that the patient went under some sort of physical change after being stuck by dark-matter infused lightning. It isn't clear yet but, it isn't a far off possibility that the patient will have some sort of meta-human ability; similar to Clyde Mardon and Kyle Nimbus._

Simon Stagg picked up the papers and a smug smile popped onto his face. His eyes fell onto the top of the report and he examined the name of the patient with interest. Danton then went forward and placed a few more papers now, but this time they were filled with pictures.

Pictures of Daniel Allen...

 **Dr. Well's Residence**

"The Flash... Central City _Hero_..."

The words dripped out of Daniel's mouth like poison out of the mouth of a viper. Daniel Allen sat down at his computer desk typing away at speeds faster then he thought he could muster. All around his room, there were sheets of papers scattered with red string attached to each one of them. Each paper had a certain fact, or a piece of information regarding the Flash, or about what he has done.

Ever since the teenager's memory resurfaced regarding the night his mother died and the Flash, Daniel has been sleepless; unable to sleep comfortably while knowing that the person that killed his parents was still alive in Central City, _masquerading_ as a hero. When Daniel returned home the night prior, the sickness in his stomach was unquenchable, and he couldn't help but feel cheated.

He had just helped his parent's murderer escape death. It was undeniable that the memory of that night was resurfaced because of the Flash's lightning, and Daniel was more then 100% sure that the lightning that he saw emanating off of the Flash was the same lightning present on _that_ night.

Daniel's perfect recall made sure of that.

And now Daniel was going to find out who the Flash was and where to find him. What Daniel was going to do when he found his parent's murderer was unclear, even to him, but he knew that he wanted answers... And he was going to get them, the easy way or the hard way.

He hadn't told anyone about his theory, not even Billy. The murderer could be watching them right now and Daniel wouldn't even know it. Daniel brought a Big Belly burger up to his mouth and took a bite, before swiveling on his computer chair and rubbing his tired eyes. However, he wasn't even close to falling asleep... Not until he found out who the Flash was and where he could find him.

Daniel stood up from his chair and carefully stepped over the red strings and papers on the floor, making sure not to destroy any of the seemingly randomly scattered papers. After Daniel stepped over all of the papers and went all the way over to the door, he turned around and examined the large amount of Flash information.

It wasn't random, like everyone would probably assume. However, only Daniel and someone that understood how his mind worked would understand. The papers were all grouped linked up according to their significance, and they all had certain key elements that would help him piece together where the Flash's hideout was...

Daniel narrowed his eyes as he examined all of the pieces of data at once, and his hands fell on his chin. After every crime, the speedster seemed to always head in one direction. Maybe he was heading _to_ something. Daniel took another glance at the reports and his brain began to work in overdrive to figure it out.

However, before he could get too much into it, the sound of the door bell ringing broke Daniel's concentration. The blonde narrowed his eyes and inhaled sharply, quickly reaching out towards his desk with his hand and swiftly pulling a pocket knife towards his hand at high speed with his Telekinesis, easily catching it and sliding it up the sleeve of his pajamas. As he did, Daniel also slipped his 'broken' arm back into his triangular sling.

Daniel closed his door behind him when he exited his room, and carefully walked through the large hallways towards the front door. He wasn't expecting any guests today, and he wasn't expecting Harrison back till later tonight... Whoever it was would have to know the code to get into the gate too, which Daniel was sure only he and Harrison knew... Daniel silently slid down the corridor until he made it to the double doors, and the blonde looked through the peep hole with narrowed eyes, clutching the pocket knife tightly in his free hand and unleashing the shimmering blade.

The person on the other end was definitely not who Daniel was expecting, but he certainly knew who it was. Daniel unlocked the door carefully and opened the door barely, just enough for the older man to be able to see him and for him to see the man. Daniel tightened his grip on the pocket knife and hid it behind his leg as he further opened the door.

"Simon Stagg." Daniel acknowledged with a confused look crossing his face. In front of him, Stagg stood with one of his hands in his pockets and a smug look on his face and a brown folder in other hand.

"Daniel Allen." Stagg replied calmly, making eye contact with Daniel tapping the brown folder on his chest a few times, drawing Daniel's attention to it. Blonde scanned his eyes over Stagg's attire and anything he had on his body, and came to the conclusion that Stagg didn't have anything dangerous on hand. However, Daniel still clutched the pocket knife tightly in his grip.

"How did you get in?" Daniel question slowly, not exactly sure on where this conversation was going. Why didn't Stagg make a business call if he wanted to meet with his father? Why would he just appear at the front door; seemingly having trespassed and gone through the entrance gate without permission? The more Daniel thought about it, the less likely Daniel believed that Stagg was looking for his adoptive father.

"Sorry, but Harrison isn-"

"I'm not here for Harrison..." Stagg interrupted forcefully, making Daniel narrow his eyes further. So his suspicions were correct. But why was Stagg looking for him? Daniel decided not to dwell on it, and instead he kept silent and raised his eyebrows in forced shock.

"And what do you want with me?" Daniel asked slowly, stepping outside and closing the door behind him, standing outside in his bright red STAR Labs pajamas. Daniel slid his pocket knife into his back pocket and revealed his free hand at his side, as to not draw suspicions from the old business man in front of him.

"You're going to help me with something." Stagg stated firmly, making eye contact with Daniel, clear blue eyes meeting with sky blue eyes. Daniel narrowed his eyes before his face became unemotional, as Daniel realized that it would be better if he didn't give Stagg any sort of emotional response.

"And what is that?" Daniel asked in response, not backing down from the stare off that Stagg was offering him up. He knew that Stagg was trying to frighten him into submission, but Daniel wasn't going to buy into it. He wasn't afraid of Stagg, and he wanted the business man to know it.

"You're going to help me capture the Flash..." Stagg declared with a smug grin on his face, as his eyes fell down to the brown folder that he had in his hand. "And if you don't listen, the world will know that you are a Meta-Human who..." Simon droned on and on about the information that he had contained in the brown folder, but little did he know, Daniel was already sold when Stagg said that certain dreaded name...

The Flash...

 **STAR Labs**

"So you're telling me that you have camera evidence that Leonard Snart and Mick Rory were the ones that broke in to STAR Labs yesterday?" Joe's unbelieving voice echoed through the empty STAR Labs hall. Said CCPD officer stood in the center of the Cortex and crossed his arms over, patiently waiting for Barry to explain further.

"That's exactly what I'm saying..." Barry explained further, as he watched Joe with sparkling green eyes. "It's not just that... They're working with Multiplex."

"Multiplex?" Joe asked in bewilderment, his dark chocolate eyes watching his adoptive son with an unconvinced expression spelling itself across his face. Barry inhaled slowly and turned away from Joe, avoiding the disbelief that he could see spreading on Joe's face.

"Multiplex is the Meta-Human that blew up the bank yesterday." Barry informed Joe casually as he paced the room. Joe took a moment to take in all of the information, and he took a long, deep breath.

"It doesn't make sense... Snart's ordinary MO doesn't involve acts of terrorism." Joe thought aloud as he began to pace the room quickly, as he tried to figure out why Snart would change his entire way of operation. "Unless his target changed... But what is he targeting?"

"They're targeting Barry..." Harrison stated bluntly. All attention fell on Harrison as he rode into the room and addressed Joe casually.

"Why would they want to target Barry?" Joe asked in response. Joe took a deep breath and put his hand up to his chin, before turning back to look at Barry, the sudden realization dawning on him. "They're not targeting Barry... They're targeting the Flash."

"Exactly." Harrison said tiredly, wheeling into the center of the room to face both Joe and Barry. "However, what Barry won't understand is that they captured Cisco and Caitlin to set a trap for him." Harrison scowled in annoyance, directing a piercing glare at Barry.

"I _do_ understand, but I'm trying to get you to understand that I'm not going to sit aside while my friends are captured!" Barry argued in defiance, both of his emerald green eyes challenging Harrison fiercely. They both stared at each other for a few moments, before Joe decided to break the silence.

"I'm going to go back to the precinct and report the break-in. Don't kill each-other while I'm gone..." Joe said to both of the people in the room, before turning to the exit and leaving STAR Labs. Once Joe was gone, Barry began to pace the room once more, desperately trying to figure out where they could have taken Cisco and Caitlin.

"Barry..." Harrison called out to Barry, but the brown haired man was too deep in his thoughts to hear the handicapped scientist. All he could think about was Caitlin and Cisco...

It was all his fault. If he had ran back to STAR Labs as soon as his goggled savior appeared, then maybe he could have stopped Snart and Rory from capturing Caitlin and Cisco. A deep sinking feeling stirred up in Barry's stomach as he thought about how much pain his friends could be getting subjected to... All because he wasn't fast enough to save them.

"MR. ALLEN!"

This time Dr. Wells voice managed to pierce the veil that was Barry's mind, and snapped him back to reality. The speedster turned his head to face Dr. Wells, who was rubbing his temple impatiently, an obvious annoyance displayed on his face.

"Go home, Barry. You've been here all night and you've been coming up with blanks." Dr. Wells declared firmly, a soft expression showing behind his eyes. Barry inhaled sharply and prepared to argue, but was interrupted when Harrison cut him off.

"Or you could bring Daniel for that dinner that you promised him yesterday night..." Dr. Wells reminded Barry, who's mouth opened like a fish when he remembered the agreement that he made with his younger brother yesterday before the fight with Multiplex. "Don't worry, he was very focused on whatever he was doing in his room last night. If he was annoyed that you didn't follow through the agreement, it was only evident when he grumbled about some 'busy loser' that 'doesn't reply to his messages'."

Barry took a breath and sighed loudly, guilt swiftly forming in his stomach. Without second thought he accepted what Dr. Wells said and collected his jacket and his keys, before turning back to face his mentor.

"You think he'll be mad?" Barry asked Dr. Wells timidly, his mind already reeling through how he was going to make it up to Daniel. Dr. Wells turned his back to Barry and began to ride back to his office before he responded.

"Mildly annoyed but not furious." Dr. Wells replied with a dry chuckle, before he vanished into his office. Barry took a breath and calmed his nerves, before turning and dashing out of STAR Labs in a flash.

 **STAGG Industries**

"Just wait here for a few minutes Mr. Allen. Mr. Stagg will see you soon."

Daniel nodded his head in response to the brunette receptionist, and took a seat opposite the elevator that led up to Stagg's office. The blonde teenager carefully kept his head down, making sure that the charcoal hoodie he had on covered his face completely. There were cameras everywhere, and he definitely _didn't_ want to be caught here by anyone he knew.

Daniel had made sure that no one followed him here, and that was how he knew it would have to be unless he figured out a reason for him to even be at Harrison's competitors place of work. If anyone found out, he knew that questions would be follow _instantaneously_ from his father.

Speaking of his adoptive father, Harrison had just called Daniel to check on him and to tell him that Barry would probably be swinging by in a few hours to take Daniel out to dinner. Fortunately, Daniel knew exactly what he wanted to do and it wouldn't take long.

"Excuse me?"

Daniel's heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice of someone that he _definitely_ didn't want to hear. Why was she _here_ of all places? The hooded blonde pretended not to hear the female voice only a few feet in front of him, as he frantically tried to think of an excuse to be here.

"Daniel... Is that you?" Iris West called out slowly, taking another step towards that teen sitting down in the waiting area. The young journalist narrowed her eyes into a squint as she tried to take a look under his hood to distinguish his identity.

"Iris?" Daniel replied as casually as possible, tilting his head upwards to look at the dark haired woman peering down at him from above. Iris's face broke out into a surprised and shocked expression, and Daniel responded with a slight and obviously forced smile. Daniel stood up from his seat slowly and put his 'unbroken' hand in his pocket.

"Wow! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Iris exclaimed in shock, spreading her arms and offering to hug the teenager. Daniel inhaled and used his free arm to accept the hug and gave Iris a one-handed hug in response; secretly rolling his eyes once he was out of Iris's line of sight.

"Nor was I..." Daniel murmured under his breath, annoyance stemming into his words. They broke off and Iris smiled warmly at the slightly taller kid fondly, before they both sat back down in the waiting area.

"So, how did you notice me in the crowd?" Daniel asked Iris, trying to hide the irritation building up inside of him.

"Well, that sling is pretty hard to miss, _especially_ with that giant STAR Labs sticker that Barry put on it!" Iris pointed out, chuckling as she remembered her adopted brother forcing Daniel to defile the unaltered look that his cast had up unto that point. Daniel cursed under his breath but managed to bring himself to chuckle in response to the memory.

"This was the _least_ place that I thought you'd be. Don't you work over at Central City Picture as a reporter or something?" Daniel asked the woman, his monotone eyes scanning forward to the elevator that lead to Stagg's office.

"I work as an investigative journalist! I investigate things..." Iris said enthusiastically, slyly narrowing his eyes and leaning forward and staring directly at Daniel. It didn't take him long to turn his head and be captured in her intense gaze. "Speaking of investigating things, what is the son of the owner of STAR Labs doing at STAGG Industries? Weren't they like the top competitor to STAR Labs before..."

Iris stopped herself but her point had already been sent flying across the ball park. Daniel took a breath and his natural inclination started to take over his sense of reason. He could have simply told Iris that he was going in for a job interview, or one of the other several back up excuses that was being generated in his super-brain; however, when Daniel turned back to look at Iris, he subconsciously reached into her memories and unintentionally pulled up a string of memories from Iris's life with Barry...

Daniel's face went monotone for a few moments, and Iris's face softened slightly in concern. It was almost like Daniel wasn't even there... The brunette waved her hand in front of the teen's face, and for a split second, she could swear his eyes were a milky white...

Suddenly, Daniel's face morphed into a hard and stony glare, catching Iris off guard. She leaned back in her chair and her eyes widened in alarm; not having expected such a _cold_ glare to emanate from the boy that Barry had been putting at such a high pedestal. This definitely _wasn't_ the same kid that Barry had described to her...

"Excuse me Ms. West, but didn't you get enough information about my life through Barry yesterday? This lurking into my life is becoming a bit... _I_ _nvasive_." Daniel hissed with narrowed eyes, his voice displaying a dark and gritty irritation. Iris's eyes widened and she was obviously taken back by what he said; her mouth left agape in shock.

"I didn't me-"

"What I do is none of your business, so I suggest that you _leave me the hell alone_. " Daniel growled fiercely, his voice seeming to reach into Iris's ears and echo in every hidden crevice of her brain, forcing her to put a hand up to her forehead as a dull throbbing pain engulfed her head.

The words echoed in Iris's head, bouncing around in her cranium like it was on a repetitive loop. It was as if Daniel had implanted his voice in her head, and turned it up 3 fold... Iris's carefully rubbed her temples and found herself leaning on the nearest wall for some support.

The chime of the elevator brought Iris back to her senses, and she scanned the room for Daniel instinctively. After a moment or two, her chocolate brown eyes found who she was looking for, and she stared with a mix of emotions as Daniel stared at her back from inside of the elevator; both of his cerulean blue eyes menacingly staring back at her.

And then the elevator closed and he was gone...

Iris found herself staring at the closed elevator door like it was going to magically open up for her and reveal whatever the hell just happened to her... The pounding in her head dissipated and was replaced with a tranquil calm, and Iris began to doubt that it was even there in the first place.

"Mrs... Do you need any assistance?"

Iris turned her head and was met with one of the receptionists trained smiles. Iris smiled in return and waved her hand back the receptionist, trying to dispel the desire to storm off and find Daniel and figure out what he had done.

"I'm okay... I was just leaving..." Iris replied to the receptionist, who nodded her head and scurried off. As Iris headed for the exit, she couldn't help but to turn around and look once again at the elevator shaft that Daniel Allen escaped in a few moments ago. The desire to find out what just occurred was driving her, and as a true journalist, she was going to find out _exactly_ what the mystery behind Daniel Allen.

 **Stagg's** **Office**

"What did you want to see me for, Allen?" Stagg asked as Daniel entered the room and slipped his hood off of his head, followed by removing his arm from the useless sling that lay loosely around his neck. The young Allen followed up by reaching into his pocket and pulling out a rolled up A3 piece of paper.

"You wanted my help in capturing the Flash, didn't you?" Daniel asked rhetorically, as he held the the rolled up paper loosely in his grip. Stagg narrowed his eyes and his eyes flickered from the paper and then back up to Daniel, who was looking at him with an anticipating glare.

"You've been hired onto this team because one of my _researchers_ were watching you and saw the potential that your Telekinetic abilities had, _not_ because I wanted your help." Stagg corrected arrogantly as he weaved his fingers into each other and leaned forward to look at Daniel more closely.

"Well you're going to _need_ my help if you want to capture the Flash." Daniel retorted casually, taking a few steps towards Stagg's office table and unraveling the A3 piece of paper. Once it was unraveled, Daniel stretched it out across the table and spun it around so that Stagg could see the blueprints that were written on it.

Stagg took the blueprints and scanned over them carefully, his eyes flickering across the well-sketched blueprints. Daniel waited patiently for Stagg to finish and when he did, Stagg looked back up to Daniel, an interested and fascinated look flashing in his eyes.

"I'm assuming that you've heard of cryonic weaponry?" Daniel asked Stagg casually as he swiftly took the blueprints off the table and rolled them back up. "You had Leonard Snart steal a cryonic gun from STAR Labs last night; that it would be enough to defeat the Flash, but you're _wrong_." Daniel warned, looking back up from his blueprints and up to stare at Stagg, who was patiently waiting for Daniel to continue.

"I've gone over the numbers in my head numerous time and if we do it your way, we _will_ fail." Daniel began, his facial expression becoming serious as his brain started churning. "The blast from the cryonic gun, _if_ we manage to hit the Flash with it, should slow him down long enough for us to take him out. However, that's a very big if _._ "

"When I encountered the Flash at the bank, he could move at speeds that my mind could barely comprehend. At first I wondered how he could move at such speeds without his brain exploding from all of the intake of information flooding in, but then it hit me..." Daniel enthused to Stagg, as he walked over to Stagg's work desk and freely sat on the edge, both of his cerulean eyes scanning over Stagg as Daniel waited for Stagg to realize what he had been hinting at.

"For his mind to body to move at such high speeds... His mind must also have to be moving at super speed!" Stagg realized suddenly, both of his eyes widening and the plan that he came up with crumbling before his eyes. If the Flash could move _and_ think at super speed, then he'll...

"..be able to disarm Snart before he can even pull the trigger." Daniel finished Stagg's train of thoughts for him, sending chills ripping down Simon's spine. The old scientist's eyes trailed from his desk upwards until he was staring directly into Daniel's previously cerulean eyes, as now milky while irises pierced holes through him.

 _"_ _I ALSO CALCULATED HOW EASY IT WOULD BE FOR ME TO COMPLETELY DESTROY THIS LITTLE PLAN OF YOURS.._. " Daniel's mouth didn't move and inch, but his voice ruptured and rippled through Stagg's brain like an atomic bomb, reaching every hidden inch and every cubic millimeter inside of Stagg's cranium.

A heavy throbbing pain filled the back of Stagg's head, and if the room wasn't so shrouded in silence, it probably wouldn't feel like hundreds of needles ripping into his head and coming out the other end. He could feel something... _Someone_ digging around in head. A nauseating feeling filled up his lungs and the hair on his skin rose up sharply, as he could feel his mind being probed from the inside out.

"You're in my head..." Simon gasped loudly, both of his eyes locked in a glare with Daniel, who was sitting only inches away from him. A small trickle of blood flowed from Daniel's nose and down the side of his mouth, prompting him to swipe at it with his hand, unintentionally smearing the crimson blood onto his creamy skin.

Simon felt paralyses as he stared into an abyss of a constantly shifting iris, his body betraying him on ever command. The change of events were chilling and sudden, and Daniel was skyscrapers on top of him. The longer Stagg stared into Daniel's eyes, the more he realized his mistake...

He was a fool to mess with Meta-Humans... And he was going to die because of it...

" _YOU SHOULD BE GLAD THAT YOU'RE A BENEFIT TO ME._ "

As if it none if it had happened, Stagg's body gained control of itself again. The older man inhaled sharply and loudly, filling up his lungs with every piece of air that it could hold. The business man broke eye contact with Daniel as soon as possible, and he put his hands to his head as the throbbing died down into nothingness...

"No offense, Stagg, but a human shouldn't be dabbling into meta-business without knowing what they're up against." Daniel warned Stagg, his eyes now back to their original cerulean blue. Stagg quivered in his chair and looked up at the blonde Meta with a freshly-founded fear, and their eyes locked once more.

"What... What do you want?" Stagg stuttered out, breaking eye contact with the Meta as quickly as possible. Daniel stalked his way around so that he was on Stagg's side of the desk, and he opened one of the draws silently, before pulling out the same brown folder that contained Daniel's blackmail information.

"I want to _help_ you..." Daniel pointed out mockingly, standing up and walking back to his side of the desk promptly. "But I'm also going to need some help from you..." Daniel informed him while he opened the brown folder and took the pictures and documents out swiftly.

"What do you need?! Whatever you want, I'll have it!" Stagg begged, quickly leaning forward on his desk and linked his finger together to form a tight linked fist. Daniel held back his desire to chuckle at how easily he broke Stagg's cocky demeanor and reduced him to a babbling child.

"You're going to make me the commander of your Anti-Flash squad and you're going to give me full access to the STAGG Industries science laboratories..." Daniel ordered the business major. "I'm going to need your technology to make some weapons, if you expect us to capture the Flash." Daniel explained, looking over his shoulder just in time to catch the shocked expression spread across Stagg's face.

"You're still going to help me capture the Flash?!" Stagg babbled out in shock, having not expected this outcome in the slightest. Daniel chuckled under his breath and his eyes flashed back white for a moment, which caused Stagg to flinch. The papers in Daniel's hand floated up into the air and as quickly as they went up, they were shredded into pieces by an invisible force. Daniel's eyes returned back to normal and he turned around to face Stagg fully once again.

"No... You're helping _me_ capture the Flash." Daniel corrected, his face slowly being enveloped in darkness as he pulled his hood back up over his head. "My requirements will be active immediately. I'll be seeing you soon..." The blonde teenager said as he twisted the door knob and took a step out, before being stopped by Stagg's voice.

"Why?" Stagg asked clearly, causing the meta-human to stop in his tracts. Even though Stagg couldn't see Daniel's face, Stagg could somehow _feel_ the malice that was dripping off of Daniel's very being. Daniel's head turned a few inches, and one of his eyes shun through the darkness of his hatred...

"I have a history with evil speedsters.

* * *

 **Tell me if you enjoyed the chapter! And also if you want me to continue! I bet you guys didn't expert this twist did yyou? Don't worry, squishy Danny is still in there! He's just traumatised now that he thinks the Flash is the one the killed his parents and is LIVING in Central City!**

 **what do you think will happen next?**


	9. Catch Up

**Chapter 9:** Catch up

Daniel had just finished sliding into his vibrant colored sleeping clothes when the doorbell rang out. Daniel grumbled loudly in annoyance as he tried to remember if he made plans for the night. And then it clicked.

The doorbell rang out again and Daniel took a very deep breath, before bouncing off of his bed and jogging out of his room and to the front door. Whoever it was managed to get past the main gates, so it had to be someone that they knew. It took one quick glance through the peek-hole to confirm his theory.

"Barry?" Daniel's voice peaked up instantly, and he swung the door open swiftly coming face to face with his brother.

"Surprised?" Barry asked in response, while calmly sliding his hands into his pockets and smiling warmly down at Daniel. The ill-prepared teenager's eyes flickered from Barry's tall frame to inside the house, and then back out into the empty driveway.

"Uh..." Daniel's mouth was left agape for a split second as he thought about a response. Hopefully Iris hadn't told Barry about the little outburst he had at STAGG. Daniel could already feel the awkwardness that would cause. "What are you doing here?" Daniel managed to blurt out eventually.

"I'm not allowed to come see my brother?" Barry asked, followed by a fake pout.

"W-Well... Ah. That's-..." Daniel stopped himself from embarrassing himself even further, and rolled his eyes dramatically. His cheeks went a rosy red as he stopped to gather his thoughts.

"I meant, why are you here right now? To visit, to see my D-" Daniel stopped mid-sentence and looked up at Barry awkwardly, a split moment of silence passing between them. "-Harry... Or you know, to take me to the dinner you promised me yesterday."

Barry shuffled back on the gravel of the driveway and took both of his hands out of his pockets, signalling towards the exit sloppily. "Actually, you got it right with the third option." Barry said with an apologetic smile plastered onto his face.

Danny rolled his eyes again and turned away from Barry, walking back into the house slowly. After a few seconds, he turned back to make sure that Barry was following him. "I'm _actually_ surprised that you remembered. I'm still mad at you." Daniel scoffed, detouring down the slim corridor that led to his bedroom.

Barry swiftly followed through the house and vaguely smiled at Danny's remark. "Awhh, come on, gimme a break. I've got a job and other stuff I need to do."

"Those things are more important then _me_?" Daniel stopped outside his room door, dramatically throwing his arms into the air and narrowing his eyes in fake disgust. Barry stopped right beside Danny and leaned on the wall, looking down at him with a contagious smile. Barry reached down and ruffled Danny's hair, turning it into a giant blonde mess.

"Nothing is more important then you." Barry replied with a warm smile, brightening Danny's face. Daniel turned his body swiftly and cracked his room open, just barely enough for him to squeeze in.

This gave Barry a brief moment to look into his brother's puzzle of a room, and what he saw, or barely saw, interested him. The first thing he noticed was that the floor was littered with red strings that stretched across the entire floor space. They all seemed to link to something but before he could see it, Daniel squeezed through the door and slammed the door behind him.

"I'll be out in a minute! Just getting changed into some outside clothes!" Daniel's voice came booming from behind the door, before fading into silence.

Whatever those red string were, Barry's curiosity was getting the better of him and he wanted to figure out what they were. However, that could wait till later, he realized. After all, he would have Daniel for the next few hours. Barry awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and looked around the corridor, searching for something to occupy his time.

Soon enough, he started examining all of the pictures that lined the hallway, carefully walking along the length of the hallway to view them all. Mostly they were pictures of Daniel growing up, and some with Daniel and Dr. Wells together. Occasionally there were pictures of Daniel with other kids and adults, who Barry could only assume were Dr. Wells relatives.

Soon enough, Barry found himself walking out of the corridor and into the huge living room, still examining the pictures. Suddenly, the pictures stopped and science awards were on display. Barry marveled at the vast expanse of awards that Dr. Wells had accumulated over the years, his heart fluttering as he comprehended exactly who's association he had been in the presence of all this time... One of, if not the most intelligent science figure of their generation.

As Barry examined the wall of awards and pictures, the number of awards displayed started to fade, becoming replaced by three large pictures. Barry's breath hitched and his heart skipped a beat when he realized that the largest of the large canvased pictures were that of his parents, alongside a much younger Barry in a wheelchair.

Nora and Henry Allen stood together happily, shoulder to shoulder and a single fluffy pink scarf wrapped around their shoulder, linking them together. A small chuckle escaped Barry's mouth as he remembered the day that the picture had been taken.

It was taken on Daniel's 4th birthday. They were scheduled to go to the art museum for the day, a family photo-shoot and then withdraw back home for ice-cream and a night of Daniel's favorite movies. Daniel had always been a big fan of taking pictures and art, and he had really been looking forward to the family photo. Unfortunately, Barry had broken his ankle that morning trying to climb up a tree and they had to spend the entire day at the hospital; much to his little brother's horror.

When they were finally finished fixing Barry up, the art museum was closed and their appointment at the photographer studio had run out. Daniel was hysterical, right on the urge of throwing a fit when Barry, wheelchair bound and in pain, suggested that they could still do the family photo in the hospital room. As strange as the idea sounded, Daniel's crying had stopped almost instantly and he was up for Barry's idea.

After a few seconds of Daniel running around the room and placing his parents and Barry where he wanted them to go, he took a step back and looked at the scene in front of him. Before taking the picture, Danny dug through Barry's backpack and pulled out a long and fluffy pink scarf; quickly moving over to his family and wrapping it around them. First around his parent's shoulders, tying them together, then around the top of Barry's wheelchair.

Barry remembered his mother framing it as soon as she could, placing it right in the living room for everyone to see. It had been Daniel's first framed picture and was treated like it was a family treasure; especially to their father. Barry hadn't seen that picture in _years_.

"This was Daniel's idea."

Barry stiffened and turned his head to the side quickly, laying his eyes on the owner of the voice. Dr. Wells had somehow wheeled himself into the room and was sitting right beside Barry, staring up at the pictures. Barry exhaled slowly and he relaxed, realizing that there was no immediate threat. His eyes wandered back up to the wall and he took his eyes away from the picture of his parents, only now noticing the other two pictures.

One was of a stunningly beautiful woman that Barry had never seen before. She had long, straight blonde hair that fell down her shoulders and a wide smile on her face. The second picture, however, was of another girl. She looked to be in her early teens and she looked much like the woman in the last picture, except that she had brown hair... The more he stared at the picture, the more he started to recognize certain features that she had. She looked so familiar, but he just couldn't but his finger on it.

"That's my daughter." Harrison spoke up again, this time drawing Barry's attention back. "That picture was taken on her first day of Middle School." Harrison wheeled closer to the pictures of the little girl and the woman and then stopped, silence enveloping them both. Barry's eyebrows arched as he tried to remember any mention of Harrison Wells having a daughter.

"Oh wow, I had no idea that you had a daughter Dr. Wells." Barry mused in awe, stepping closer the Dr. Wells and examining the pictures. "How old is she now? I haven't seen her around here." Barry asked absentmindedly, now examining the picture of the older woman.

"She died 6 years ago."

The room dropped into an eerie silence, as Barry's mouth swung open and his heart beat quickened. Instantly, the words "I'm so sorry, I had no idea," sprung from his mouth, and he turned his attention over to his mentor.

"It's okay, Mr. Allen. It's not the first time that someone has asked me that." Dr. Wells noted, his eyes not moving an inch from the picture of his daughter. "Her name was Jesse. Right now she would probably be in college, working on getting her degree."

Barry clenched his mouth shut, quieting any thought that he might have had about the subject. He didn't want to pry into the subject, so Barry turned to the picture of the older woman, taking a step closer to the image.

"She's beautiful." Barry acknowledged out loud. He was now standing mere feet away from Dr. Wells, and they both looked up at the picture in a moment of silence.

"Her name was Tess Morgan. She was my wife." Dr. Wells recalled glumly, looking down at the ground. "She unfortunately passed on in a horrible car accident 11 years ago."

Barry inhaled slowly, a well of pity boiling over inside of him. He had no idea that Dr. Wells had suffered so much in his life. Losing a family member was horrible for anyone, as Barry well knew.

Barry turned away from him and looked back at that section of the hallway; longingly staring at the canvased picture of his parents. It hit him then that the wall wasn't simply _holding_ the pictures of the four deceases family members. No...

It was design _for_ them

"Barry!" Daniel's voice called out from the hallway behind Barry, startling him somewhat. He quickly turned to locate Daniel and quickly came face to face with his brother. The well of pity was quickly replaced by a warmth that spread through Barry like a fire. A wide smile spread across his face almost instantaneously.

Daniel's hair was slicked to once side, and his blonde hair shimmered under the light from above. Barry looked at Daniel's clothing and his face became flush, noticing how nicely dressed his brother was. But what caught Barry's attention was the amount of nice jewelry he had on. One watch on his arm, one in his hand, two huge diamond plated rings and a golden necklace.

Of course, Daniel still had that cast on his arm, with the huge STAR Labs sticker on it.

"Oh, there you are." Daniel said offhandedly, realizing that upon turning the corner, Barry was right in front of him. "This is for you." Daniel beamed, closing the gap between him and Barry in a moment; handing Barry the watch that he had in his hand.

"Where'd you get thi-" Barry's words were caught in his throat as down at the watch in his hand and his eyes widened slightly. This was expensive. _Definitely_ expensive. "Holy crap, how much did this cost?!"

"The price isn't important. It's a gift." Daniel said cheerfully, before turning away from Barry and walking towards the hallway that led the front door. Barry followed quickly, one look back over his shoulder revealing that Dr. Wells had escaped when he hadn't been looking.

"You don't like it?" Daniel asked slowly, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead as he almost reached the front door. It had taken him quite a bit of looking to find a watch that had special rocks that were blue. Barry's favorite color. Barry noticed that too, and he was almost instantly in-love with the watch. However, a guilt set in him and he sighed reaching out to hand Daniel back the watch.

"I love it but, I can't accept it. That's a lot of money, Danny." Barry said confidently. Daniel's face was clearly confused so Barry decided to explain. "You should be spending your money on yourself, not me."

Daniel stood awkwardly between the open door, his body turned to face his brother. He looked down into Barry's hand and saw the watch he worked so hard to find, and he took a deep breath.

"So you're telling me that if this watch was nonrefundable you still wouldn't keep it?" Daniel said sheepishly, although he already decided that he _wouldn't_ be accepting it back from Barry. "Because it's definitely nonrefundable."

Barry frowned as he followed Daniel out of the house. "I... I guess I'm just going to have to keep it." Barry admitted in defeat, examining the shiny watch in his hand. Barry put it on his wrist and fastened it.

"So where are we going?" Barry questioned as they trudged down the huge driveway towards Barry's car. Danny just gave him a sly smile and a wink.

"It's a surprise."

Once they got into Barry's car, or rather the car Barry was borrowing from Joe, it didn't take them long before they went driving out of the neighborhood. They drove in relative silence for the first few minutes, with Barry nervously following the directions that Daniel's GPS was giving him.

After awhile Barry decided to break the silence.

"So, I really like that memorial wall you put up." Barry chirped, turning briefly to flash his little brother an approving grin. Danny smiled back and straightened up in his chair.

"Thanks, but I'm not the one that put it all up. Harry is the one that made it." Daniel corrected smoothly.

Barry's was contorted slightly in confusion. "But Dr. Wells told me that it was you that made it?" Barry asked in confusion.

"It was my idea." Daniel chuckled lowly in response, his face lightning up at the memory. "But he is the one that set it all up. I gave him the idea at dinner one night and the next morning when I woke up, the wall was set up. It was a present from him to me." Daniel revealed, just the memory enough to cause happiness to swell up inside of him.

"Oh wow, it couldn't have been that long ago right? That entire wall looks so fresh." Barry analysed, remembering how pristine the frames and the designs of the wall was, as if it had freshly been designed and placed.

"Well, Harry repainted and redesigned it when we was in a coma. That's probably why it looks so brand new." Daniel concluded, thinking more deeply about it now it had been mentioned. "He originally made it not to long after Jessie..." Before Daniel could finish his sentence, his voice hitched in his throat.

The car fell into an uncomfortable silence. Barry's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and he looked over to Daniel, who seemed rather uncomfortable all of a sudden. He shrunk down in his seat and stared outside of his window, his hands on his leg which gently vibrated as he tapped it repeatedly on the floor. Barry didn't notice it before, but had Daniel been this bothered the entire ride? However, Barry soon realized that it had to have something to do Harrison's deceased daughter, Jessie...

Barry decided that he needed to change the subject fast, before things became awkward again. While Barry yawned and stopped at a stop sign, he thought of something to talk about. Well, since Daniel had brought up the coma, he remembered that he had to speak to Daniel about something.

"Oh, speaking of the coma, I had something that I wanted to talk to you about." Barry began, catching Daniel's interest once again. The younger boy turned his attention to his brother and his eyes showed a snicker of interest behind them.

Daniel's mind could only swim through the possible ideas, but he couldn't help but entertain a few. Maybe Barry had come to his senses and decided to tell Daniel about the secret they so obviously were hiding from him? Daniel felt guilty for being excited by the thought of it, knowing that he agreed with Harry that he would stop digging for it, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering. Before Daniel could think of much more, Barry revealed what was on his mind.

"Well..." Barry started out, his face turning a shade more crimson. "You know... Uhh... Since I haven't been here for most of your life, I haven't really been here to see much of your development..." Barry managed to stutter out. Almost instantly Daniel's face shot up a few shades of red and his heart beat quickened.

' _Oh god, this wasn't where I was expecting this conversation to go! Crap!'_

"Well... I just wanted to make sure you know... That I'm here for you if you want to talk about anything strange going on with your body..." Barry coughed, his voice seizing up for a moment as his cheeks began to burn. "Anything really.."

Daniel was far more than uncomfortable at this point, and embarrassed too. His cheeks were a million times hotter then they had ever been and he could barely bring up a word in response. The silence that filled the car was so thick that Daniel could barely breath. Why did Barry think this was a good time to bring up _this?!_ At least Harrison had brought up the 'talk' when they were on an awesome vacation to Hawaii and were both super relaxed.

This was the opposite!

"B-Barry..." Daniel awkwardly whimpered out with his voice conveniently cracking at the exactly _wrong_ moment. "I'm fine... I mean, I've already... You know... Had this talk with Harry..." Daniel groaned, his gaze fixed hard on his lap.

Barry's eyes widened to saucers, realizing that he had given Daniel the wrong impression. "Oh god no! No! That wasn't what I was talking about!" Barry almost yelled in surprise, making Daniel sigh in relief but confusion grow. "I'm talking about after the coma!" Barry corrected himself, mentally slapping himself.

Daniel released a breath that he was holding and released his clenched fist. His wide eyes slowly began to return to normal, but his pounding hard still remained the same. Trying to push past the embarrassment of what just happened, Daniel to think about where was Barry going with this. How Daniel's body had developed _after_ the coma? Daniel began to piece together what he thought Barry was trying to say, but he decided to pitch a rock in the pool before jumping right in.

"What do you mean? Am I supposed to have developed after the coma?" Daniel asked quizzically, leaning back in his chair and turning to look at Barry, who was more focused on the road. However, Daniel did notice the slight hesitation Barry had before answering the question.

"No- Well! You _could_ have developed something from the coma... Something out of the ordinary." Barry hinted at, uncertainty tinted in his voice. Daniel took a note of that and squinted his eyes, but also becoming rather uncertain.

Barry must have found out that Danielwas a meta-human, Daniel concluded. The way Barry was speaking was as if he knew a secret that he wasn't supposed to know; and rightfully so. It was Daniel's secret to tell, and he sure as hell hadn't told anyone except Billy. Well, there was also the time at the school when Caitlin and Harrison had been checking up on his broken arm and he had been _sure_ that Harrison had figured out that he was a meta-human. But since that day they hadn't really talked about what happened at the school, and Daniel hoped that maybe his adoptive father had forgotten about the mysterious bone healing in the light of the killer meta-human that was trying to kill them.

Daniel didn't realize how much he was overthinking it until he felt a sweat drop fall down his forehead and onto his lap. He snapped back to his senses and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his forearm.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, putting on the best confused tone that he could muster. "Are you talking about... Meta-humans?"

Barry took a breath and looked from the GPS to Daniel, an uncertain smile breaking out across his face. "Well, yeah. Kind of. What I'm trying to get at is, if the dark matter affected you in any way, I'm _here_ so we can talk. I know keeping a secret like that must be hard.."

Daniel let Barry's words soak in and felt a warmth spread in his chest. At that moment, what he wanted to happen felt so real to him. He revealed the Barry about everything that happened after the coma, and how he had been studying when he figured out that he had meta-human abilities. His fears about being found out and turning into an experiment, or going to jail. And about the way Simon Stagg tried blackmailing him.

But he couldn't get the words out of his mouth, but instead, the words that escaped betrayed him. "Uh... Are you tryna tell me that you're a meta-human? Because I'm pretty sure we got hit by the same blast..." Daniel drew out, his voice quite and almost accusing. He could see Barry's eyes widen and he flinched back.

"I guess you're right!" Barry spat out in shock, his eyes widened quickly as he realized his mistake."No way I'm a meta! That would be crazy, Right?! Because that would mean that you were a meta, and that would be _insane_!"

"Yeah..."

"Yeah, we're _totally_ not metas..."

"Totally."

Both brother's awkwardly itched the back of their heads and the car fell into an uncomfortable silence. Only thing that they both gained from all of this was that they were both holding a secret, that they wanted to share with each other, but for one reason or another, they wouldn't.

Barry mentally cursed at himself, the annoyance that he managed to hide away for so long beginning to resurface. After he had decided to let Dr. Wells decide what Daniel could and couldn't know about Barry being the Flash, Barry had tried his _hardest_ to push down the desire to tell Daniel, and it had worked to an extent. Thankfully, for a reason that Barry couldn't figure out, Daniel had stopped pressuring him about why he was at STAR Labs so much. However, Barry knew that if Daniel's curiosity peaked again, which Barry knew it would, the secrets that they kept from him would create a big drift in their relationship.

And that was the least thing that Barry wanted after being separated for the last 10 years.

Daniel's frustrations boiled over deep inside of him, but he managed to hold it in with only tightly clenched fists to show. He hated that Barry was obviously holding something from him. And he hated himself for keeping a secret from one of the few people that cared about him. Being honest to himself, he only had a select few people that he even _considered_ telling. Billy. Adam. Cisco _maybe_. He hadn't even thought about telling Harrison. Daniel knew that telling him wouldn't end well. Harrison was overwhelmingly overprotective sometimes and this was definitely an area that Daniel didn't want to go over with him. As much as Daniel wanted to tell Barry, he had a gut-feeling that Barry would freak out too.

' _You have reached your destination_.'

The GPS broke the silence and Barry began to focus on the area that they were in. His breath was literally taken from his body when he saw the grande building that he had just parked in front of. The building was easily three stories and it was lit up like a Christmas tree. Just from the people walking in, Barry could tell that it was expensive, and he immediately felt uncomfortable and out of place.

"And now I understand why you dressed up so well..." Barry said breathlessly. Daniel only smiled broadly and got out of the car, followed eventually by Barry. Barry followed behind his brother in silence, scanning the area as they approached the entrance. Two security guard stood outside the entrance and as they got closer, there eyes skipped over Daniel and fell on Barry.

He could almost feel the uncertainty in the looks that he was getting, not only from the guards, but also from the people walking in before them. Barry looked down at his clothes sheepishly and flashed a goofy grin at them, followed by a shoulder shrug.

"He's with you?" One of the guards asked Daniel.

"He's my guest for today." Daniel told them, offering one of the guards a fist bump, which he gave back willingly. Barry was more then confused at this point, but Daniel motioned for Barry to follow him inside, and they walked in.

Barry was even more surprised by the interior of the building. Everyone was practically shimmering in jewelry, as they sat around tables and ate. The smell wafted into his nose and his mouth began to water almost instantaneously. The food smelt amazing, and Barry's stomach growled.

"Where will you be eating today, Mr. Allen?"

Barry's head span to face the voice, only to find that the young woman wasn't talking to him, but to Daniel.

"We'll be on the roof tonight, thank you." Daniel told her, pulling out his wallet and flashing her a card. Barry didn't get a good look at it, but it seemed the woman recognized it almost instantly. "Nice to see you again." Daniel told her, followed by him heading to the staircase.

Barry followed behind as they walked up all three flights of stairs and got to the roof of the building. The smell of the food was less powerful but the view was incredible. The restaurant was on an elevated piece of land just outside of central city, and they had the view of the entire city from the top. Another waiter came up and brought them to their seats, which were right next to the edge, looking off into the city.

"So... What do you think?" Daniel asked Barry in a nonchalant tone, but with a huge grin on his face. Barry was honestly speechless, and his mouth was halfway open in shock.

"To be completely honest with you... I thought we were going to go to a Big Belly Burger or something.." Barry stuttered out, causing them both to burst into laughter. Once they had calmed down, Barry took a breath and sat back comfortably in his chair. "It's a very, _very_ nice restaurant. But..." Barry looked down at the menu and chuckled to himself.

They both knew what Barry was thinking. Barry didn't have enough money for this. He'd only gotten out of his coma a month before Danny had, and the majority of his money had been going to saving for his new apartment he was about to get. He really didn't have enough money to pay for the food here.

 _Especially_ here.

"Don't worry about the price." Danny waved him off as he took out his own menu and scanned it. "Harry is paying for your part of the meal. Plus, me and my guests get half price on everything we buy. Something about STAR Labs sponsoring them." Danny looked at the menu for a few more seconds before putting it down.

"Would you gentlemen like a drink?" The same waiter that brought them to their seats came back and took the drink orders, Barry getting Coke and Danny getting Root-beer.

"Wow, and to think, this is all on a school night." Barry teased as he looked over at Daniel's 'broken' arm and chuckled. "Maybe that weirdo chick attacked you because you get to go to amazing places like this when you should be hauled up in your room doing homework." Barry joked, quickly responded by a smile from Daniel.

"I'm _pretty_ sure the school is under construction, so yeah, no school tomorrow." Daniel replied, a smirk spread across his face. "And actually, I'm sure it was my stunning good look that made her want to attack me."

" _Oh really_? So she was going for a twisted remake of _Misery_?" Barry quipped back swiftly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure if the cops on scene didn't stop her, I would have had all my limbs broken. We'd probably be in a cabin in the snowy woods, right _now_." Daniel chuckled sarcastically.

"Yeah bro, if I was you, I would go for her." Barry suggested sarcastically. "I mean, she just destroyed an entire _school_ for you."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea if I'm trying to have our wedding 6 feet under." Daniel chuckled as he rolled his eyes. Barry took a sip of his coca-cola and place it back down.

"Strangely enough, it doesn't sound too different to when I was in High School. Crazy girl trying to get attention, but ya know, they weren't metas back then!" Barry chirped.

"Yeah, surprisingly, this is still my favorite school that I've been too." Daniel revealed confidently.

He swirled around the brown liquid in his cup as he thought back on the memories of Windsor Heights Elementary, Central City Elementary and Central City Middle. Yeah, he hated those places. Only good thing about Central City Middle was that for some time he was friends with Billy. Other then that, everything else sucked.

"Oh really? What was so wrong with the other schools?" Barry asked in curiosity, his interest peaked.

"Well... Let's just say I got kicked out of Windsor Heights Elementary for beating up a kid." Daniel hummed proudly, but Barry's expression was the opposite. Daniel looked up and saw Barry's expression, and he put on an obviously fake, 'oops' face.

"To be fair, he definitely deserved it. He was a bully..." Daniel breathed, his voice quieter when he saw Barry's disapproving face. "I only gave him a black eye."

Barry took a breath and leaned forward in his seat, his mind processing how to go on with this subject. He was sure that Dr. Wells probably went over this with Daniel, especially seeing that Daniel got kicked out of the school for it. But as an older brother, Barry figured that he had a duty to help Daniel.

"Remember what Mom told us that day I came home with all those bruises?" Barry asked Daniel, and it took a few moments of Daniel thinking to remember it.

"That you beat up two bullies?" Daniel asked, pretty sure with his answer.

"Well yeah. But she lied. I actually got my ass handed to me in that fight." Barry revealed reluctantly. Daniel's shocked expression was enough to bring a smile on Barry's face.

"Wow, and all this time I thought my brother was a badass..."

"Yeah yeah, but that's not the point! On that day, mom told me that having a good heart is better then having fast legs." Barry told him, the seriousness in his voice coming back. "Well, I guess in your case, a good heart is better then having a strong fist?"

Daniel listened to Barry's words, but it didn't seem to be registering. He sighed and sat back in his chair, his face knotting up as he thought about it more and more. Barry sat back and took a breath.

"I don't know... Are you trying to tell me I shouldn't defend myself?" Daniel asked pointedly, his voice still lingering with confidence.

Barry could tell that Daniel was confident that what he did was right, and he wanted to carry on further to justify his own means, but he couldn't bring himself to argue with him. He didn't want to ruin the evening.

"I'm not saying that... I'm just telling you what Mom told me, you can take it how you want." Barry replied as he shrugged his shoulders. Daniel was just as eager to drop the subject. "Well what was wrong with the other two schools?"

"Central City Elementary was alright, but I didn't have any friends." Daniel said, in a matter of fact tone, as if it didn't bother him. "And Central City Middle was _alright_ I made a best friend there."

"Only one friend?" Barry asked in confusion.

"Yeahhh..." Daniel trailed off, his eye contact breaking with Barry. "I did have two other people I _liked_. One was a girl, the other was a guy. But you know how that goes... They paired up and kicked me to the curb." Daniel scoffed as his cheeks burned up and his eyes became hard.

"Well, at least you have your best friend. He seems like a good guy, I can't wait to meet him." Barry said cheerfully. Daniel's temporary sadness melted away and he turned back to Barry with a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah, Billy is the best. He actually helped me plan on how I was going to go and meet you! You know, the night of the Particle Accelerator Opening." Daniel told Barry, who was generally shocked. Almost instantly he recognized the name Billy, and because Daniel said that he basically didn't have much friends, it clicked that Daniel's best friend was Captain Marvel.

"Oh wow! That- That's so nice of him!" Barry marveled in shock.

"Yeah, and I guess I have another friend. I used to babysit him before we went into coma. He's pretty cool; just turned 10 when I was in coma." Daniel revealed as he thought of his little friend. "His name is Adam Grant. His mom is actually my High School history teacher."

"See, you _do_ have friends!" Barry beamed, throwing his arms in the air dramatically.

"Yeah, I'm definitely the most social butterfly." Daniel rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink.

As he drank, Barry sat back and thought back to earlier in the night and the talk about Harrison Wells daughter. He wanted to ask Daniel about her. Surely Daniel and Jessie had been friends? Shivers ripped down the back of Barry's spine as he thought about how distraught he would have been if Iris had died during his stay with Joe. Definitely something he wouldn't want to discuss over dinner.

The waiter came back and took their food orders, returning shortly with their food. Barry started to eat his steak, while Daniel slowly slurped up his spaghetti and meatballs and cautiously watched to see what his brother thoughts on it was. After the first few bites, Daniel began to subconsciously tap his fingers on the side of the table in a rhyme.

"Sooo..." Daniel quietly spoke in an attempt to catch Barry's attention; who looked up almost immediately, food bulging from his cheeks. "I'm guessing you liked it?"

"I love it!" Barry sputtered out through a mouth full of food. Daniel burst into laughter, the image of his brother with engorged cheeks _easily_ becoming the highlight of his night. They fell back into silence for a few minutes while they quietly ate their food.

"You know what, Cisco would love this place." Barry sighed loudly as he stared off into the distance.

Barry had spent all his available time trying to find Cisco and Caitlin, but they were still coming up with blanks. They couldn't connect Multiplex from the bank with anyone they met before, and seeing that he blew up the bank before the police could get to the body, no one could identify him. Only thing they were going on is that Mick Rory, Snart, and Multiplex were working together to capture him. It didn't make sense to Barry, Joe or Dr. Wells, seeing as all three people seemed to be coming together for no particular reason.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for what happened to them." Daniel said uneasily. "Don't worry too much though, I'm sure the Police or my dad will figure it all out."

Daniel could see the conflict playing off inside Barry's head and he felt instantly bad for him. He could imagine how lost he would feel if Billy was yanked from his life for what appeared to be no reason. Unfortunately, Harrison had been unwilling to share with Daniel any of the information about what had happened, except that Cisco and Caitlin were abducted from Star Labs on the day of the bank robbery.

Daniel concluded that when Barry and Cisco abandoned him at Joe's house and ran out, Cisco must have headed back to STAR Labs. Harrison said that he was out getting some food when it happened, and came back to find that they were gone. It all felt weird, to Daniel at least. What was Cisco's alert telling him? Why did he need to rush back to STAR Labs so quickly? Because of a break in? That would explain why he was taken. He probably stumbled on the culprits.

"Yeah, I just wish that I was fast enough to save them." Barry lamented to himself.

"You're only a guy, Barry." Daniel chuckled deeply, but his face was painted in confusion. "You were at the bank with the rest of the police squad. You can't be in two places at the same time. Give yourself a break." Daniel huffed.

Barry took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders, still staring out at the view.

"Well, tell me about your friends! You asked me about mine!" Daniel went on, not wanting to fall back into silence. Thankfully, Barry chimed up and his face brightened.

"Well, there's Eddie, but we only met like a month ago, so we're still getting there. There's August, but he left to work in a Police department in Gotham. Cisco, Caitlin, Dr. Wells. Linda." Barry stopped for a moment and his face brightened up considerably. "Oh, and you can't forget Iris! We're best friends!"

Daniel managed to suppress his eyes from rolling at the mention of Iris, but one thing did catch his attention. "Who's Linda?" Daniel asked curiously, a smile creeping up on his face.

"Oh, haha. She's just a friend." Barry blushed bashfully. Daniel crossed his arms across his chest and gave Barry the knowing eyes. "Okay, maybe I'm a _little_ interested in her, and she's a little interested back, but I haven't really asked her out yet..." Barry mumbled incoherently.

" _Wow,_ to be completely honest with you, I thought that you liked Iris." Daniel cackled in surprise. Barry's face twisted into what looked like a kid who got caught stealing from the cookie jar, which forced Daniel's cackle to turn into full blown laughter.

"What-Why'd you think that?!" Barry faked shock, although it easily showed through.

It seemed no matter how hard he tried to push away his feelings for Iris, everyone seemed to see right through him. Well everyone _except_ for Iris and Eddie. Barry simply hadn't spent enough time with Eddie for him to come to that kind of conclusion, and Iris was simply oblivious. She had always been.

"Sorry for assuming, " Daniel said with a smile on his face, and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not very good at reading all of that relationship stuff. It's all really weird to me, honestly."

This time it was Barry's turn to be confused.

"Wait, you're telling me you haven't had _any_ girlfriends at all?" Barry asked his brother, who blushed a few shades and shrugged his head. "Never kissed a girl?" Barry asked, toning his down to a whisper as if the entire restaurant could hear what he said.

"Barry!" Danny grumbled in protest, his cheeks turning scarlet. "No! I haven't! Why would I want to do that? The entire concept is disgusting! And don't look at me like that! Sticking your tongue in someone's germ filled mouth doesn't sound good at all!" The embarrassed teen blurted out in a frenzy.

Barry had to control himself from bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Of one things he expected from his brother, this definitely wasn't one of them. For a rather handsome, semi-famous, son of a millionaire teenager that Daniel was, Barry expected that his brother would have _at least_ had _one_ girlfriend. It was a shocker definitely.

"Wow, I'm pretty sure that you're the first teenage boy I've met that isn't obsessed with girls, or video games! I'm impressed!" Barry gawked in fake shock. Daniel brushed him off and took a breath, trying to cool down his burning face.

"Whatever. Girls are evil anyways. I'm pretty sure they're made to get our hopes up and then crush them." Daniel groaned. He decided to elaborate when he saw Barry's 'explain please' face. "The only girl I ever did like, decided to go out with one of my ex-friends and dropped me out all together."

"I thought you didn't have much friends?" Barry asked the teen.

"That's why I put the 'ex'." Daniel replied nonchalant, his expression glazed over with a happy smile. Barry couldn't help but stare for a few seconds at Daniel's relaxed and content face, which brought a certain warmth in Barry's chest.

"I wish we could be together every day..." Daniel sighed out loud, although his face was still smiling. Barry weakly smiled back and reached over the table in a moment and easily ruffled Danny's hair.

"I promise that we'll hang out more often. Well, a lot more often then now." Barry promised his brother, which brought back the smile to Daniel's face.

After a few seconds of sipping their drinks and staring off into the view, Barry put his coke down and decided to speak his mind. "So, what's it like being the 'son' of a world renown scientist, who's inventions have shaped the world around us? Not the mention that he's a millionaire!" Barry asked with an amused grin on his face.

Daniel smiled slightly to himself and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I can't say much about the sciencey stuff, because I wasn't very interested all of that before the Particle Accelerator exploded. But I know the money _definitely_ isn't a problem with me." Daniel hummed, followed by a cheeky wink in Barry's direction. Barry rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. "Well, what it like being the adopted son of a detective?"

"Well, let's just say that in my teenage years, sneaking out was almost impossible." Barry chuckled, but he could see on his face that Danny wanted more then just that. " He also let me look at some of the cases when he couldn't solve them."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Not if he doesn't tell his boss."

"Ahh... I guess I'll keep my mouth shut." Daniel piped, followed by a breathy chuckle. Barry grinned widely, but it quickly turned into a frown when he saw a strange emotion pass across Daniel's face.

"What's on your mind?" Barry asked casually, his eyebrows furrowing as he asked.

"Well... Since I woke up I've been thinking about what we talked about on the night of the explosion.." Daniel revealed, his expression now serious as he stared at Barry. "You know, about the weird texting thing? How we weren't getting each other's texts?"

Barry sat back in his chair and nodded his head, motioning for Daniel to carry on.

"Well, I did some research and I found out that something like that shouldn't be possible. Seeing as we didn't block each other, it should have been just fine." Daniel sighed loudly.

"So... What is that supposed to mean?" Barry asked in confusion.

"I don't know yet. I'm at a loss on that, but I just wanted to let you know that." Daniel huffed. "But one thing I can get from it is that someone was trying to keep us apart."

Barry sat back in his chair again and an uneasiness spread through his body. Also a great confusion took hold of him but before he could speak up, Daniel carried on.

"I mean, it only makes sense, right? Our texts didn't go through. The presents you sent me didn't get to me. And after I turned 8 we barely saw each other." Daniel said in conclusion, his cerulean eyes flickering in certainty.

However, Barry was even more confused then before. He was pretty sure that he knew what it was, but the way Daniel spoke so confidently, it made Barry rethink what he thought he knew. He didn't want to say it before, but it looked like he was going to have to. It had been bottled up inside of him for too long, and it was almost unavoidable now...

"You don't agree?" Daniel pipped up, successfully managing to snatch Barry back to the land of the living. The concerned look on Daniel's face made Barry's stomach tie into knots.

"I don't know, Danny..." Barry inhaled deeply, his eyes dropping from Daniel's face to the table. "Back then, when you were 8, Dr. Wells told me that you were having withdrawals about the night... And then after that, every time I tried to come and see you, he said that you didn't want to see me..."

Barry stopped himself there, the face Daniel was making paused him in his tracks. He hadn't seen such a ferocious face in a long time. Daniel's usually milky skin turned dark red, and his glare turned into daggers. Barry glanced down and saw that Daniel's hands had turned into fists on the table.

Yeah, it was clear that something was wrong.

"That's bullshit!" Daniel almost yelled, his voice shaking as he tried to contain himself. Barry's eyes widened and he tried to reach over to Daniel and calm him down, but it didn't help him at all.

"I don't know Danny, that what he to-"

"Harry wouldn't _do_ that! He _wanted_ me to see you! But he said that y _ou_ probably didn't want to see me because you didn't want to be reminded of what happened! He said that you probably thought I was a reminder of what happened!" Daniel exploded, his quick temper getting the best of him. Tears sprung to his eyes and he turned away from Barry and closed his eyes tight, trying his best to calm himself down.

Barry tried to speak but his voice just wouldn't let him. He couldn't make the words to respond quick enough, and instead he ended up just staring at Daniel with a frown painted on his face.

"It's not true." Barry managed to get out finally, his voice confident and strong. "You're _not_ a reminder of what I lost, Danny. That's not how I see you."

"Then how do you see me?" Daniel asked harshly, having managed to open his eyes and bring down his anger a notch. He unclenched his fist and turned away from looking at Barry, as now he was trying to withhold his tears. Barry took a breath and thought for a moment.

"You're a reminder of what I have left..."

Silence filled the air once more, the only sound that could be heard being the waiters and the music from the building below. Barry's glance was downwards on the table, and he silently reached over and put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, tenderly rubbing it to comfort him.

Tears went streaming down Daniel's cheeks at that point and he pressed his face on the table, using his arms to hide his tears from Barry. However, after a few rhythmic sniffles, Barry stood up and moved his chair next to Daniel's, and wrapped both of his arms around Daniel.

This only seemed to increased Daniel's crying, but he melted into Barry's hug naturally. Barry comforted him the only way he knew how; from what Joe and his father used to do whenever he came home from dealing with bullies. Not long after, Daniel's crying stopped and he wiped his eyes with his sleeves.

"Sorry..." Daniel sniffled, his cheeks rosy due to embarrassment. Barry smiled warmly and pat Daniel's back a few times.

"Don't be sorry. I understand why you'd be upset." Barry sighed. "But let's hope that it wasn't Dr. Wells. I mean, I don't know, maybe I was coming on days you weren't home..." Barry mused as he moved his chair back to where it originally was.

Daniel looked uncertain, and Barry caught on quickly, but he chose not to say anything. It was obvious that he would be uncertain, Barry thought. However, Daniel was thinking of something else entirely.

Daniel realized that Joe had kept his word and not told Barry about the incident back when he was in Windsor Elementary. Or maybe Barry didn't care? Daniel wasn't sure yet, and he wasn't sure if Barry knew about Joe deciding to cut off visits with Barry for awhile after it.

"I don't know... Joe didn't really want us to be together much either..." Daniel told Barry, deciding just to let it go. Barry's confused face was the next emotion that popped up, and rightfully so.

"Wait, what reason would Joe have for keeping us apart?" Barry questioned in confusion, but Daniel shrunk back at the question. After a few more moments of silence and Barry waiting for an answer, Daniel looked off into the distance.

"You're going to have to ask him about that.." Daniel muttered reluctantly. He knew that he had to. He didn't want Barry to know about what happened at Windsore, but Daniel knew that for them to work together to figure out who had seperated them for so long, Barry would have to eventually find out.

"Well, he better have a damn good answer." Barry replied under his breath.

The waiter came back and took their plates away, and gave them their check. Neither of them wanted desert, the knots in their stomachs too big to take anything else. Just one look at the other and they both knew that the other felt uneasy. And it wasn't from the food...

They both stayed silent as they left the restaurant and got into the car. When they got into the car, Barry sighed and turned to Daniel.

"Whatever we find out, just remember that the past doesn't matter. We're together now, and that's all that matters." Barry reminded Daniel, a warm smile spreading on his face. Daniel nodded and smiled back weakly, before turning and resting his head on his palm on the arm of the car door.

They drove for a few minutes before they made a turn. Daniel wasn't sure why, but he felt the urge to look out of the window, and when he did, he was met with a familiar sight.

"It's our old neighborhood." Daniel realized as he looked at all of the houses while they drove past. Memories flashed through both of their heads as they remembered all of the good things that they experienced growing up there. Soon enough, they drove past their old house, which was now abandoned with a board over the door.

"Wow, it almost looks the same." Barry marveled, before turning back to the road. Just like that, they were past the house and down the street.

"Yeah..." Daniel said lowly, so low that Barry had to stress to hear it. "You know, just to be clear, you're still sticking to the story right? You haven't changed?" Daniel asked, a flicker of worry flashing over his face.

"It's not a story, Danny. It's what we both saw. It's a fact." Barry corrected him, but Daniel just rolled his eyes in response; relief oozing out of him.

"The tornado of lightning and the man inside of it..." Barry said slowly, the goosebumps already going down his arms. Daniel took a breath and felt his heart beating faster in his chest.

"Well, before the Particle Accelerator explosion, I couldn't figure out how we saw something so unnatural. I mean, a man in a bolt of lightning..." Daniel trailed off for a moment, thinking back to the night, and then back to his theory. Goosebumps were all on his arms and he was on edge, his hands gripped into fists subconsciously.

"I think I saw him again Barry... Recently."

Barry almost crashed the car when he heard those words, and the car jerked forward, sending them both flying forward. Fortunately they both wore their seat belts and were caught. Daniel took a breath in shock, while Barry stared at him with obviously shocked eyes.

"Are you sure?! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?!" Barry questioned in a frenzy, his eyes roving across Daniel's entire body to look for any injuries, apart from the seemingly broken arm.

"I'm fine! He didn't hurt me. I don't think he remembered who I was." Daniel said, but decided to quickly skip past that section. "Anyways, I'm like 70% sure that the person I saw was him." Daniel said seriously.

"Well, who was it?" Barry asked quickly, his heart pumping out of his chest at this point. The hairs on the back of his neck sprung up and he couldn't help but to look up at his rear view mirror to make sure that no one was in the back. His grip on the steering wheel increased, and he could feel the speed force flowing through him.

"The Flash."

Barry's face twisted into one of confusion for a moment, and then he remembered that Daniel had no idea who the Flash really was. Disappointment gripped Barry, but also relief. How could he possibly face up to that monster again? A part of him wished that he could encounter him again, but the other part of him was terrified, and wished for it all to just go away.

Barry must have not replied for too long, because Daniel impatiently poked him in the arm after a few moments. Barry looked back at Daniel, and he gave Barry the 'I'm waiting' face.

"No." Barry said simply, not finding any other words fast enough.

"No what?" Daniel replied in shock, having not expected that answer at all.

"No; he's not the Flash." Barry responded firmly, his frustration building up inside of him. At moments like this, he wished that he could just tell Daniel the secret that he was keeping. But just one thought of how disappointing and angry Dr. Wells would be forced those thoughts away from Barry's mind.

"How can you be so certain? I literally saw him. The lightning was the same!" Daniel jumped up in his seat in frustration, his cheeks becoming rosy in embarrassment. Just the way Barry responded alone made Daniel feel like an idiot. All that work only to be shut down so quickly. But Daniel wasn't about to give up.

"Danny, The Flash is a hero! Heroes don't kill." Barry said smoothly, not even taking his eyes off the road to look at Daniel, who he already knew must have been as frustrated as he was.

"But Barry! No one else can run that fast, except the Flash!" Daniel argued. "And the lightning was identical! Yellow streaks! Come on, we both saw the same thing!" Daniel tried to convince his brother, but Daniel could tell that Barry was adamant.

"It doesn't make sense. He kills mom and dad and then disappears for 10 years and when he comes back he's saving people's lives? It doesn't add up." Barry tried to reason with him. "Plus, you said yourself that the man on the night had a yellow suit right? The Flash wears red."

"Are you really arguing with me about the color of his suit?!" Daniel asked, his frustration bubbling over. "Look! I don't know why he decided to be a hero now, but it doesn't change the fact that he might have been the one that killed our parent! We need to find out who it is!" Daniel reasoned, his hard gaze planted firmly on the side of Barry's face.

Barry took a moment to breath as they drove into Dr. Wells' driveway. This wasn't going down a good path and Barry knew it. If Daniel thought that the Flash was the one that murdered their parents, and Daniel wanted to do something about it, it would only hurt him in the end when he found out that Barry was the Flash. In the end, all he'd be left with would be disappointment.

But Barry couldn't tell Daniel that he was the Flash either, so he was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. Either let Daniel hurt himself trying to find out if the Flash was the one that killed their parents or tell Daniel that he was the Flash and completely break Dr. Wells trust and possibly endanger Daniel.

Caitlin and Cisco were just kidnapped by Snart and Rory for knowing that Barry was the Flash, and Barry didn't want that to happen to Daniel. He would rather die. Barry decided quickly what he thought was the right thing.

"Maybe you're right..." Barry falsely admitted, pretending to acknowledge what his brother was saying. "But please don't try to figure this out on your own. You might get hurt. That thing that killed them isn't normal."

"Don't worry, I'm not alone." Daniel replied swiftly and confidently, much to Barry's worry. Barry frowned deeply and he adjusted himself in his seat, now that they were safely parked in the driveway.

"What do you mean, you're not alone?" Barry asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing in Daniel's direction.

"Well STAGG industries recently reached out to me. They believed us about that night, and they want to help... They want to capture the Flash too. They said that as long as I agree to help them, they'll let me question the Flash for as long as I want." Daniel told Barry, but Barry's expression made him frown.

"Daniel, big agencies like that don't just reach out to people like that. I mean, how could you help in capturing the Flash?" Barry asked, trying to dissuade Daniel as tactfully as he could.

"I'm smarter then I look." Daniel responded harshly, slightly hurt by Barry's remark. Barry, realizing his mistake, shut his eyes tightly and tried to think as quickly as he could.

"I thought you wanted justice for what happened?" Barry asked quietly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Barry, I want him _dead_." Daniel said coldly, not regretting a single word. "But being strapped to an operating table being examined for the rest of his life works too."

Barry stayed silent for awhile as he thought about all of the information he was getting. A headache was forming easily, and he was feeling kind of sick at the thought. It was all so messed up, and for no reason at all. Or well at least in his eyes. Now his own brother was out to capture him with STAGG industries...

And that's when it clicked. Barry had to suppress his eyes from widening and his face from lighting up when he figured it out. And all thanks to Daniel too.

Why hadn't he thought of them before?! Nonetheless, with the unknowing helpf of Daniel, Barry figured out who took Cisco, Caitlin and the rest of the hostages.

Unfortunately, knowing that didn't get Barry out of the current situation he was faced with. Daniel still was out for the Flash's blood, and Barry had no way to prevent it. But he still had to try...

"I don't know, Danny. It all just seems kind of wrong." Barry said, which was followed by silence. Daniel sighed and turned his attention away from Barry, crossing his one 'good' arm over his bandaged one.

"Anyways, I just wanted you to know that your help would be greatly appreciated on the team." Daniel offered Barry, which shocked Barry greatly. "I mean, with you being a forensic scientist and all.."

Now it was Barry's turn to fall into silence. It was a turn of events for sure, and Barry wasn't sure what he would do with it. Before he could think of an answer, Daniel broke his train of thought.

"You don't have to decide yet. You have 8 days to decide." Daniel revealed slowly, but he knew deep down that Barry was reluctant to do it. He didn't want to force him to do something he didn't want to do, but Daniel just wanted to figure out why Barry was so against it.

Unfortunately for him, the one time Daniel tried to read Barry's mind, all of Barry's thought were way too fast for Daniel to even understand, and it had given him an almost instant migraine. After he tried it that once, he vowed never to try it again.

"Alright, I'll think about it." Barry told Daniel, who smiled back in response, a small spark of hope welling up inside of him. Daniel took off his seat belt and leaned over, hugging his brother tightly before letting go.

"I love you Barry." Daniel whispered with a small grin on his face. Barry couldn't help but feel guilt whirl inside of him, but he forced himself to smile back.

"Love you too, Danny."

With that, Daniel opened Barry's car door and climbed out of the car, closing the door behind him. Barry waited and watched as Daniel got to the front door and used his key to open the door. Before he disappeared into the house, Daniel turned to face the car and waved dramatically, a large grin on his face.

Barry smiled and waved back, all the way until Daniel turned and disappeared into the house. Barry took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

"Yep, this is going to be _great_."

 **Sorry I took so long to update. A lot happened over the last year. I lost all my plans for this fic, so I had to rewrite it all, and make Daniel's character sheet again. Took forever and a day. But I finally did it. One thing I realized is that I really don't like the name I gave this fic haha. Idk maybe it's just me?**

 **Anyways, this chapter wasn't much action. I was going for a calmer chapter, but trust me, there will be a lot of action in the chapters to follow. Well, maybe not next chapter, but _after tha_ _t_ definitely. I realized I was going a little fast in my other chapters. I really like how this chapter came out. I hope you liked it too.. Please if you have any positive or negative criticism hit me up. I need criticism. Helps me improve.**

 **Question of the day.**

 **How did Barry Allen die in the comics?**


	10. Rewrite In The Works

So Guys, I'm going to be rewriting this story eventually. As for now it's discontinued. Looking back I realize how much better this could have been and how wrong I've been doing writing this. I can't carry it on like this haha. Sorry for all those waiting for an update.


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